The Electoral Commission (EC) has asked the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) to discard the idea that the Commission is planning on rigging the December 07 elections for any political party.
It has advised the party to continue to train its agents to man the polling centres for them on the day of the election.
At a press conference Friday, May 17, 2024, in response to some allegations made by the General Secretary of the opposition NDC the day earlier, the Deputy Chairman of the EC in charge of Operations, Samuel Tettey, disclosed that the electoral processes would not grant the Commission the capacity to rig the elections for any party as the NDC is speculating.
Franklin Fifi Fiavi Kwetey, General Secretary of the NDC had said in their Thursday presser that, the EC was planning on rigging the polls for the ruling government.
Distance yourself from any attempt to rig 2024 elections – NDC warns EC
But according to Mr. Tettey, “the EC is not in any position to rig elections for any party.”
He explained that the electoral processes, ranging from voter registration, exhibition of voters register, balloting for positions on the ballot paper, printing of ballot papers, to the activities on the election day, were transparent, and therefore, left no space for opacity.
For instance, he said political parties were officially informed of any voter registration exercise at least 21 days to the commencement of the exercise. Again, he said the level of transparency on election day, where all parties had their agents at polling stations and also monitored the counting and collation, made it impossible for rigging to take place.
“If a political party participates in all the process of the EC and collates their results well, their figure will tally with that of the EC. Elections are won at polling stations and not the EC headquarters,” he stressed, also discarding allegations by the NDC that the recruitment of returning officers by the EC was opaque.
He disclosed the EC would begin the replacement of voter’s identification cards for all persons in parts of the Volta Region who were affected by flooding following the spillage of the Akosombo Dam.
He said the replacement exercise would begin on May 30, this year. “We have heard the appeal made by the General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Fifi Fiavi Kwetey, for the replacement of the ID of our fellow Ghanaians in parts of North Tongu and other areas that were affected by the floods. We know that it is no fault of theirs, so their cards will be replaced,” he said.
Akosombo Dam spillage: Replace voter IDs of victims from May 30 – NDC tells EC
The Volta River Authority (VRA) in September, last year, spilled excess water from the Akosombo and Kpong dams to protect the integrity of the dams. In the event, many communities in about eight districts in three regions, namely Asuogyaman, Shai Osudoku, the North Tongu, Central Tongu, South Tongu, Anlo, Keta Municipal, Ketu South Municipal and Ada East districts got flooded, displacing about 39,000 people. Some of the victims also lost their ID cards due to the flood.
