Coronavirus protocol breaches: Blame registrants not Jean Mensa – EC

The Director of Electoral Services at the Electoral Commission (EC), Dr. Serebour Quaicoe says persons who breach COVID-19 protocols at registering centres in the ongoing voters registration exercise are adults and should be held responsible for their actions instead of the EC boss Jean Mensa.

Dr Quaicoe’s statement is in reaction to the position of the Ghana Medical Association (GMA) that Mrs Mensa, as the head of the electoral management body should be held solely responsible for any COVID-19 breaches at the centres.

Speaking to Benjamin Akakpo on the Executive Breakfast Show (EBS) on Class91.3FM on Wednesday, 1 July 2020, the Vice-President of the GMA, Dr Frank Serebour, said it is Mrs Mensa’s job to ensure that her staff observe the protocols to keep Ghanaians safe.

Dr Serebour stated: “She [Jean Mensa] is the head and I believe that it is [on] her authority that the EC officials are working. So, she has to ensure that the right things are done. They must put in place the right things, the right security and all the needed logistics are put in place at the centres”.

“She requested for health personnel, she’s been given; we’ve trained them and given them health personnel to help them, so, we think that every single activity that’s being done is being done under her auspices and she has to make sure that the right people are at the right places, they have the right training and, so, it is her responsibility and I believe that she knows that and that is the reason she held the press conference and she told Ghanaians exactly what was going to happen at the registration centres, so, we think that any breaches that occur at these centres, she should be solely held responsible for those breaches and, so, we stand by that and we think it's her reasonability because after all, she is the head and she has to ensure it happens.”

Reacting to this on the same show, Dr Quaicoe called on the security personnel at the polling centres to help enforce the safety protocols.

He said; We’ve come with the modalities so we expect the security people to help us to ensure that people observe the protocols. All of us if we go there and people are not doing the right things let’s all speak against it. The Electoral Commission does not support people who do not observe the protocols…

“We’re dealing with adults and they should be held responsible for their actions. The law says that you should wear mask and the law has law enforcers so what we can do is to educate the people. There are laws and when they breach them people who are law enforcers must make sure they are punished…but like I said, the people who are going to the centres are adults and so they should also know that what they are doing has effect of their own health and those people they get into contact with and I’ll also entreat the security service, they shouldn’t allow people to breach the protocols and go scot free.”