Dr. Kwame Asah-Asante of the University of Ghana has advised the Electoral Commission (EC) to conduct the forensic audit being demanded by the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) and other stakeholders.
The audit, according to the Political Science lecturer, will help allay the fears of all parties who have issues with the electoral roll.
He explains the trust issues which are being raised by some of the parties changes the entire dynamics of the elections since democracy, and elections particularly, is anchored on trust.
Speaking on Ghana Tonight with Alfred Ocansey Monday, September 23, 2024, the political scientist’s counsel was for the election management body to ensure the confidence of the key players are not dwindled.
“In elections, the main issue is trust. When all the players in the political game have trust issues, then it becomes a whole new ball game altogether. The management of electoral process must be organised in such a way that there is always the opportunity to win the confidence of the key players.
“But, sometimes there are differences but at the end of the day, reason prevails and people sit down and arrive at a conclusion so if this issue if the EC decides to allow for audit, it is going to enhance the electoral process, and allay the fears of all those who have concerns with the register,” he stated.
The comments follow the tussle between the NDC and the EC over the audit of the voters’ register.
The National Democratic Congress (NDC) on Tuesday, September 17, 2024 hit the streets across all the regions in the country and presented a petition to the EC’s regional offices demanding a forensic audit of the voters’ roll.
The NDC had said that the integrity of the roll had been compromised, having detected some illegal transfer of voters from one constituency to the other without the knowledge of the persons involved.
After presenting its evidence to the EC, the Commission told the NDC that the errors have all been rectified.
Meanwhile, the NDC is asking the Commission to involve a third party to conduct a forensic audit, saying there are more illegal transfers, amid the EC’s refusal to provide evidence of what it claims it has corrected after the attention was drawn to the anomalies.
NDC courts support of CSOs, groups for forensic audit of voters’ register
