CHRAJ Boss descends on security officers who collected food shared by MP during special voting

The Commissioner of the Commission of Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), Dr. Joseph Whittal, has strongly condemned the actions of some security officers who accepted food being distributed by the Member of Parliament for Ayawaso West Wuogon, Lydia Alhassan, while they were in a queue to vote during Monday's special voting exercise.

He described the act as embarrassing, stating that security officers must always remain security-conscious.

Addressing journalists after a health screening for 300 staff members of the Commission who will be deployed to monitor human rights issues during the December 7 elections, Dr Whittal said: "When I watched the video, it was quite embarrassing. Security officials must be security-conscious. How can you come to exercise your franchise and somebody give you food? You don't even know where the food is coming from, and you take it as though it is okay.

" Particularly when you are being given the opportunity to exercise that franchise in preparation to secure the environment on the 7th for all Ghanaians to exercise their franchise, yet you start on such a bad note.

"What happens if you go to the field and other people distribute food to those in the queue? Are you sure you would be able to make any arrests in such situations? This incident suggests you wouldn't see it as a problem.

"At the level of the individual officers involved, this is concerning. To all security agency leadership, this is a clear indication of poor performance. When it comes to election-related matters, they need to be more vigilant, especially regarding the distribution of money, food, and other items around polling stations."

Dr. Whittal added: "They ought to go back to the drawing board and strive to do better next time."

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