Let’s embrace EC’s assurance
Our lead story yesterday was one in which the Electoral Commission (EC), at an Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) meeting in Accra on Tuesday, urged Ghanaians to trust it to produce a credible register for the conduct of the presidential and parliamentary elections on December 7, 2024.
This assurance comes at the back of accusation by the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) that the Voters Register for this year’s elections is bloated and fraught with various mistakes and as such must be subjected to audit.
It has become the habit of both the NDC and the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) to raise issues about the Voters Register when either of them is in opposition.
When such issues are raised, the one in power would vehemently oppose the other with all manner of accusations.
For instance, in 2015, while in power, the NDC opposed NPP’s calls for the audit of the register for the 2016 elections.
It is also the party’s habit of accusing the party in power of being in bed with the EC, especially its chair.
Due to these negative habits, a good number of people mostly ignore issues raised by these parties regarding the EC and the voters register as they see them as mere propaganda.
However, the Jean Mensa-led EC has brought a dimension of response to the situation which is soothing and reassuring.
It says the errors identified by the opposition NDC) in the provisional voters register have “largely” been fixed for the preparation of the final register.
This is to say that the EC did not see the concerns raised by the NDC as ‘business as usual’ but sensitive issues that must be addressed in the national interest.
It has also gone further to educate the public to understand the situation by saying that the register in question is a provisional one generated immediately after the registration of voters and that it is a draft register, not the final one.
The attitude shown by the Jean Mensa-led EC is productive and must be cultivated as part of the electoral process in the country.
The Ghanaian Times wishes to commend the NDC also for pointing out the flaws, which action has elicited a productive response.
The paper agrees that it is not easy for the opposition NDC to trust the EC so long as it holds on to its past flaws, but thinks it is always generally better to give people and organisations the benefit of the doubt before taking an entrenched position.
We are just two months away from December 7, 2024, the day of this year’s elections and mistrust against the EC is not healthy.
The NDC must adhere to its own position that it must build trust to take the assurances of the EC and rescind the stance that its trust is broken.
The Ghanaian Times believes the so-described broken trust can be and should be rebuilt in the interest of the country.
The country needs free, fair and peaceful elections to maintain its tranquillity with all the attendant benefits.
