The Electoral Commission (EC) has assured political parties, candidates and Ghanaians of a fair and transparent election rerun in 19 polling stations at the Ablekuma North constituency.
The EC has set Friday, July 11 for the rerun due to the inability to collate results for some remaining polling stations which pink sheets could not be verified.
Speaking to the media ahead of Friday’s rerun, the Deputy Electoral Commissioner, Dr. Eric Bossman Asare said as an Electoral Management body, EC is desirous of bringing the election in the Ablekuma North constituency to a conclusion and to ensure that the constituents have their representative in Parliament.
“We will live by our motto and ensure that the rerun is fair and transparent,” he assured.
According to the Commission, the Ghana Police Service and the National Elections Security taskforce has assured of their readiness to ensure security before, during and after the rerun.
Dr. Bossman Asare said, “We count on them to ensure that lives and properties are protected and that voters and our staff will work in conducive environment tomorrow (Friday).”
The Commission further dismissed claims that it has been influenced by high powers of authority to conduct the rerun of parliamentary elections in 19 polling stations at Ablekuma North.
Dr. Bossman Asare insisted that the Commission is an independent body and cannot be influenced by any authority.
He stressed that these claims are “unfounded” and cannot be true.
“The Commission’s attention has been drawn to unfounded accusations that it has been influenced by certain individuals to pursue the rerun.
“We state categorically that Ghana’s Electoral management body is an independent body and will not be dictated to by any person or institution. Our track records speak for itself,” he stated.
According to the EC, the collation process in Ablekuma North parliamentary election has been transparent, participatory and accountable.
“The agents of the political parties have been present throughout the process,” he noted.
Although the NPP has declared that they will not participate in the rerun scheduled for Friday, July 11, its candidate for Ablekuma North, Nana Akua Afriyie has commenced campaign activities and expressed her readiness to partake in the election.
The party earlier filed an injunction application at the High Court to restrain the EC from conducting the rerun.
However, the Accra High Court on Wednesday, July 9 dismissed the New Patriotic Party’s interim injunction that sought to prevent the Electoral Commission from proceeding to rerun elections at 19 out of 281 polling stations in the Ablekuma North constituency.
Lawyers of NPP Parliamentary candidate, Nana Akua Afriyie sought the court to grant a 10-day ex parte injunction against the EC.
The lawyers noted that the 10-day injunction would grant NPP adequate time to serve the Electoral Commission with an application asking for an explanation regarding the failure to adhere to the High Court’s earlier directive to collate and declare results of three outstanding polling stations.
The NPP Ablekuma North candidate, Nana Akua Afriyie took the Electoral Commission to court despite her party noting that they will abstain from the rerun on Friday, July 11.
