General News of 2012-10-10

Play by the rules for peaceful elections - EC

The Chairman of the Electoral Commission (EC), Dr Kwadwo Afari-Gyan, has stated that the only magic wand to attain peaceful and successful elections is for all actors to play by the rules of the game.

He said most electoral problems had erupted because many of the actors were either ignorant of the laws governing the process or they flagrantly decided to flout the rules with careless abandon for their parochial interest.

Dr Afari-Gyan made the statement at the launch of the “Guide to Candidates and their Agents” put together by the EC for political parties, as well as other actors, including the security agencies, observers and the media.

The 21-page document deals with the dos and don’ts for candidates and their agents and the importance of polling agents and has an appendix which comprises a form that candidates or parties can conveniently use to appoint polling agents and collation agents.

All the registered political parties were given 300 copies of the booklet for distribution to their candidates and polling agents.

Dr Afari-Gyan explained that out of ignorance, the security agencies and electoral officers had caused electoral offences because they had not been abreast of the rules and regulations guiding the electoral process.

He added that it was, therefore, imperative for every Ghanaian interested in the democratic process to learn the laws to guide his conduct with regard to the polling process and also be able to teach others, especially members of the same party who might offend the laws.

Touching on polling agents, he noted that it was incumbent on political parties to use the guide to train their agents, so that they would assist in organising, adding that the position of polling agent was one of trust, not only for the candidate or party that appointed him or her but also the overall credibility of the elections.

According to the EC Chairman, if polling agents played their watchdog roles well at the polling stations, they would contribute immensely to the acceptability of the results.

Using page 15 of the book to answer a question by a representative of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mr Emmanuel Asigri, who wanted to know who could be at the polling station, Dr Afari-Gyan explained that those permitted, in addition to polling staff and voters, were persons accompanying voters with disability, candidates and their spouses and security personnel on polling duty or called in to keep order.

The rest are certified agents of parties and candidates, members and officials of the EC, journalists with official Ghana Journalists Association(GJA) accreditation, domestic and foreign observers and other persons authorised by the EC.

The Deputy Chairman of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), Mrs Augustina Akumanyi, appealed to the political parties, especially their agents, to put the unity and safety of the nation at the core of all their actions.

That, she explained, would guide them to secure the integrity of the process and ensure that the will of the people prevailed.

The toast of the programme was the flag bearer of the Ghana Freedom Party (GFP), Madam Akua Donkor, who took a swipe at politicians who had been castigating, insulting and threatening Dr Afari-Gyan.

She did not understand why some political parties took the EC to court to restrain it from organising by-elections in the Kwabre and Wulensi constituencies when they knew that the EC had spent resources in preparing for those by-elections.