It will be Ghana’s loss if the EC fails to adopt our proposed electoral reforms – John Mahama
It is not only the NDC that should be the advocate for that
Flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress in the 2020 General Elections and former President of Ghana, John Dramani Mahama has called on the media to join the NDC’s campaign for the adoption of the electoral reform proposals the party has put before the Electoral Commission for consideration.
His party, the NDC sent a set of 34 proposals to the Electoral Commission asking for consideration and implementation. This, the party argues will help reclaim the lost integrity of the Election body following what they called bad performance in the last general elections.
It follows an initial set of proposals from the party in May 2021 during a press conference themed: Assessing the so-called achievements and electoral reform proposal by the Electoral Commission of Ghana. Those particular proposals were driven by the adoption of a set of electoral reforms by the Inter-Party Advisory Committee, IPAC and the EC. The adopted reforms were the closing of polls at 3 pm, on election day, the continuous registration of voters and an all-year-round Voter register exhibition via SMS.
Some of the IPAC-adopted proposals were rejected by the NDC who was not present at the meeting when they were adopted. One of such which received their strongest opposition was the proposal to close polls at 3 pm on election day.
The party has accordingly after various stakeholders engagements have arrived at its 34 proposals which they believe when implemented will save the integrity of elections in the country. It mentioned the creation of a specially designated court to deal with electoral disputes before, during and after elections.
Also, the party proposed the mandatory requirement for the publication of applicants for recruitment as temporary EC staff for registration of voters and for elections and for allowing the public to object to applicants who have questionable backgrounds or have overt partisan biases must be strictly complied with. The requirement for the list to be posted at the District EC offices to which the applications relate must also be complied with.
Please find in the link here all the proposals from the party concerning electoral reforms.
When Mr Mahama was asked what his party will do next if the EC failed to listen to their proposals, he responded well, it will be Ghana’s loss, it will be a loss for all of us. It is not only the NDC that should be the advocate for that.
“You the media should take a look at it. I don’t know how many of you have seen the proposed electoral reforms, it has been published, look at it and join the advocacy for it. If you look at it you will see that a lot of them are not based on our partisan interest but they are national interest.”
By: Stella Annan | myactiveonline.com Twitter @activetvgh
