The Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) has condemned the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Ayawaso West Wuogon Constituency, Mrs Lydia Seyram Alhassan, for allegedly distributing food to voters during the special voting held on Monday.
During the special voting, Mrs Alhassan, together with her constituency women organiser, were said to have been captured in a video distributing food to voters in a queue.
The Commissioner of CHRAJ, Dr Joseph Whittal, noted that such an act was not only illegal but also tantamount to corruption and integrity issues that needed not to be condone in any democratic dispensation.
The Commissioner made the condemnation during a media interaction at his office yesterday on the preparation of the monitoring and observation team to monitor and observe the elections on Saturday.
“We were not there, but we saw the media carried certain unsettling developments, particularly in Ayawaso West Wuogon, and it falls within the checklist that we used to monitor.
I know the Member of Parliament has denied it. But it is your right to treat as in the legal term, to share food, to share money to anybody in the queue in preparation to vote, because it is tantamount to corruption and an integrity issue”, Dr Whittal stated.
He also condemned security officers who allegedly received the food that was alledgedly distributed by the MP.
Dr Whittal disclosed that the Commission would deploy a total
number of 300 trained staff across the country to monitor and observe the presidential and parliamentary elections.
According to him, the purpose of the observation and monitoring exercise was to help in the identification of the violation of the right to voting that may occur during the electioneering process.
Some of the elements of the right to vote that would be monitored and observed, Dr Whittal said, would be the treatment of vulnerable groups such as people with disabilities and pregnant women and the unreasonable use of force by the security.
“For this 2024 elections, we’re going to deploy 300 staff across the length and breadth of the country who will observe the elections to enable us to monitor the right to vote”, Dr Whittal said.
“while we will be observing elections in general along the lines expected of all election observers, we have as a constitutional duty as well, we need the mandates of the commission to monitor the right to vote”, he added.
Dr Whittal again explained that the observation and monitoring team would have a checklist and monitoring tools to guide the monitoring and observation process and ensure that the voting rights of electorates were not violated.
Furthermore, he explained that the Commission would develop a report and make recommendations which would be forwarded to appropriate institutions such as the Office of the Special Prosecutor and the Attorney-General based on evidence gathered during the monitoring and observation process to inform future elections.
Although, the monitoring and observation exercise did not include the special voting, the Commission, Dr Whittal said, would review it to include the special voting in subsequent elections based on the incident that occurred at the Ayawaso West Wuogon Constituency.
The Commission also organised a health screening for its staff in order to ensure that they were in healthy condition to conduct the monitoring and observation exercise during the elections.
BY BENJAMIN ARCTON-TETTEY
