Dr. Palgrave Boakye Danquah, a spokesperson on Governance and Security for the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), is asking the Electoral Commission (EC) to put its arsenals well in order to avoid unnecessary tensions in the upcoming polls.
He believes the act of the EC with just some few days to the polls leaves much to be desired, and has asked that the Commission up its game to avoid anxiety amongst the populace.
His comments come amid concerns of mistakes from the Electoral Commission with preparations into the December 07 elections, where the EC had to recall some electoral ballots from the constituencies to destroy them and order reprinting.
Speaking on the KeyPoints Saturday, November 30, 2024 on TV3, Dr. Boakye Danquah described the Commission’s errors as “unpardonable”.
He called for a transparent polls for Ghanaians to believe the report the Commission will provide at the end of the exercise. Dr. Boakye Danquah told the EC to stop creating tension and anxiety in the country.
“So, a few days to the election and we are having this challenge. Electoral Commission, we beg you, we beg you, okay? We want a transparent election. We want a free and fair election.
“We want the Ghanaian people to know that the decision they have made is reflecting on the announcement you would make. So please, spare everybody in this country the tension and the anxiety and all the butterflies that are flying around,” he stated.
The governance and security expert says it is troubling to find a Commission recording errors with serial numbers of ballots few days to the polls.
He indicates some of the errors the EC is putting out there leading to the retrieval of ballots and burning them could have been resolved indoors without them coming out.
“I’m concerned that printing houses are making mistakes with serial numbers and printing papers, ballot papers are being sent to EC and EC is deploying and later asking for those ballot papers to come back.
“I mean, these things are unpardonable, to be honest. And I’ve shared my frustrations about these issues on many platforms. This is a very important election as all elections have been,” he stated.
He expressed how the upcoming poll is important to Ghanaians and the NPP, and how the Electoral Commission is the only body mandated to ensure the process navigated to achieve the dream.
“It’s a very important election for the New Patriotic Party. We want to make Alhaji Dr. Mahmoud Bawumia the next president of the Republic of Ghana. The Electoral Commission is the only body that all of us that will vote next week Saturday, would have to use as a medium to make that decision on Alhaji Dr. Mahmoud Bawumia becoming the president of the Republic of Ghana,” he stated.
“We beg you. Let’s have one country, let’s have a peaceful election. Let the Ghanaian people know that should they make a decision to vote for Aladji Dr. Mahmoud Bawumia, that is reflecting and not otherwise,” he said in addition.
EC to burn another batch of defective ballot papers on November 30
