CODEO welcomes EC logo change

The National Coordinator of the Coalition of Domestic Election Observers (CODEO), Mr Albert Kofi Arhin has welcomed the decision by the Electoral Commission to revert to the use of the election management body’s original which was changed by the now-impeached Chairperson Charlotte Osei.

Mr Arhin has described the reversal as “not surprising.”

The Jean Mensa-led Electoral Commission on Tuesday, 4 December 2018 reverted to its old logo, effectively doing away with the new one instituted by the now-impeached Chair Charlotte Osei.

A memo to that effect circulated by Mrs Mensa at the election management body said: “Effective December 4, 2018, the original logo of the Electoral Commission which bears the Coat of Arms and has a ballot box showing the hand casting its vote, has been restored.”

“The core values of the Electoral Commission, namely integrity, fairness and accountability have from today also been restored.”

In the memo, Mrs Mensa said: “All communications from the electoral commission must from today be made on the letterhead bearing the original logo of the commission as appears on the face of this letterhead…”

Speaking to the matter on the Executive Breakfast Show (EBS) on Class91.3FM on Wednesday, 5 December 2018, Mr Arhin said the old logo that has been brought back by Mrs Mensa truly represents the work of the EC.

He told host Moro Awudu that: “When this old logo was changed, there was hue and cry because most Ghanaians didn’t understand the need for the change and I sided with those who didn’t want that change at the time because, looking at the one that is in use now, you could see that it didn’t mean anything.

“Looking at it as an outsider, you could say it meant nothing whereas the old one which they want to use now, anybody seeing it saw that the commission was engaged in that kind of business, it was engaged in elections because the Coat of Arms was there, and, so, changing it into something abstract, it meant nothing and it also proved to me that a lot didn’t go into the selection”.

“There was cry among the commissioners at that time that the consultation was not enough, it was like one person imposing its authority on the others, so, all along, it has been controversial. I’m not surprised that the new commissioners who have just come in have decided to go by the old one because that is actually representative of what the commission does; you find the ballot box there, you find somebody voting and then you have the Coat of Arms of this country also boldly displayed, so, for me that represents what the commission does”.