General News of 2012-09-05

EC gerrymandering threatens peace, stability- Dr. Nyaho-Tamakloe

A leading member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr. Nyaho Nyaho-Tamakloe, has said the Electoral Commission's persistence in creating 45 additional constituencies, practically two months before the 2012 elections, bodes ill for the integrity of the polls and consequently, the peace and stability of the nation.

In his view, the exercise would also create a logistical nightmare for all opposition political parties and render the political process inequitable.

Sharing his perspectives on the yet-to- be created constituencies, he recalled that prior to the 2008 elections, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) warned of mayhem if the Representation of the People's Amendment Law (ROPAL) was passed to enfranchise Ghanaians in the diaspora.

Some members of the NDC, he recalled, warned on placards during a protest march in February 2006 that if “ROPAL, Rwanad.”

According to Dr. Nyaho-Tamakloe, some NDC leaders, also expressed similar sentiments, saying “Even the NDC flag bearer at the time, Prof. J.E.A. Mills, described ROPAL as a recipe for disaster.”

In fact, Dr. Nyaho-Tamakloe further stated that Prof. Mills, when addressing Ghanaians in Atlanta in the USA in August 2007, said that “we can't wake up one morning to a non-existing country because we are killing each over questionable election result.”

In the light of the gerrymandering being pursued by Dr. Afari Gyan, Prof. Mills' observations are as relevant today as they were when he made them, Dr. Nyaho-Tamakloe concluded.