The Director of Legal Affairs for the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Godwin Edudzi Tameklo, has said the Electoral Commission’s (EC) refusal to specify the errors made by the disqualified aspirants in the 2024 presidential race is unfair.
According to him, the Electoral Commission has made several errors in its work, including the announcement of the 2024 presidential election results where the EC Chair changed the figures several times.
Mr. Tameklo added that the EC’s computation of the recent voters’ register were full of errors which took the NDC to draw the Commission’s attention to them.
He says such numerous errors committed by the EC since the taking over by Jean Adukwei Mensa has earned it a different name, “Errortorial Commission” instead of Electoral Commission.
Based on that, Mr. Tameklo says those aspirants the EC has disqualified for merely making errors on their nomination forms is neither here nor there.
“When the EC was doing the voters’ registration, they made a lot of errors and it was the NDC that drew their attention to it. In 2020, the results were changed several times and that her declaration form was made after the NDC had filed a petition in court. Now the Electoral Commission is called ‘Error torial’ Commission because they have been making so much errors. So how could you disqualify someone for making the same error you have been making?” he said on the KeyPoints on TV3 Saturday, September 2024.
His comments follow the disqualification of some 11 presidential aspirants by the Electoral Commission without allegedly specifying their mistakes and giving them the opportunity to correct the said errors.
The Electoral Commission on Friday, September 20, 2024, disqualified Bernard Mornah of the People’s National Convention (PNC) and Janet Nabla of the People’s National Party (PNP) from contesting in the December 7, 2024, presidential elections.
This announcement was made in a communiqué issued by the EC on Friday, September 20, 2024.
Other presidential candidates disqualified by the EC include Nana Stephens Adjepong, Paul Perkoh, James Kwesi Oppong, John Enyonam Kwakwu Kpikpi, Dr. Samuel Sampong Ankrah and Dr. Nii Amu Darko,
The rest are Samuel Apea-Danquah, Desmond Abrefah, and Kofi Asamoah Siaw of the Progressive People’s Party (PPP).
After the Filing of Nominations, which took place from September 9 to September 13, 2024, the EC conducted a detailed examination of the submitted Nomination Forms to ensure compliance with the legal requirements.
The EC also confirmed that several other candidates, 13 of them, successfully completed the nomination process and are qualified to contest in the 2024 Presidential Election.
The decision, according to some of the candidates, was made without the EC declaring the specific errors they made and they were also not given the opportunity to be heard on the said errors made.
