Many have raised suspicions over the Electoral Commission’s (EC) refusal to conduct the forensic audit being demanded by the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) to the electoral roll.
Groups, including chiefs, members belonging to both the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the NDC, have all insinuated that the EC has something to hide for refusing to conduct the audit.
A founding member of the ruling NPP, Dr. Nyaho Nyaho-Tamakloe, has said that the EC’s refusal to conduct the forensic audit despite the glaring errors detected by the NDC after the voters’ register exhibition shows the Commission is hiding something.
The paramount chief of Goaso Traditional Area, Nana Akwasi Bosompra, has also added his voice to the calls, saying that the register needs deliverance, considering the amount of illegal transfers that were carried out during the vote transfer.
On Hot Issues Sunday, September 22, 2024, Haruna Iddrisu, the Member of Parliament for Tamale South and former Minority Leader, also indicated that the Commission is in bed with the government,
Meanwhile, a Political Science lecturer at the University of Ghana, Dr. Kwame Asah-Asante, has said he believes the Commission has nothing to hide and has asked that it conducts the forensic audit being demanded to bring matters to rest.
According to him, conducting the audit will build people’s confidence in the electoral system and deepen the nation’s democracy.
Speaking on Ghana Tonight Monday, September 23, 2024, he said the best thing for the EC to do at the moment is to alley the fears of all key stakeholders which is to conduct the audit for the brouhaha to be put to rest.
He said an audit “gives people the confidence to believe in the system, trusting that what they will churn out will be a true reflection of the people’s mandate and that will engender confidence and deepens the democratic process.
“So, I believe that the way things are going, the best option is for the Electoral Commission to allow the audit to happen. Because I know from where I sit and I’m not sure that the Electoral Commission has nothing to hide.”
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.
