'EC bashing ploy to reject poll result'

Presidential staffer Clement Apaak has said the NPP’s continuous lampooning of the Chair of the Electoral Commission since she was appointed a few months ago, is part of a grand scheme by Ghana’s biggest opposition party to prepare the grounds to reject the results of this year’s elections.

The NPP has opposed the Electoral Commission (EC) on various decisions and accused the chairperson of being “in bed” with the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC).

The Danquah-Busia-Dombo party petitioned the EC over some 76, 000 individuals it said were foreigners on Ghana’s voters’ roll but the request was dismissed. The party also accused the EC of fielding some individuals with bias towards the NDC in the recently inaugurated 18-member steering committee meant to oversee the general elections on November 7.

But Dr Apaak, in an interview with Ekow Mensah-Shalders on Class91.3FM’s Executive Breakfast Show on Monday February 22, 2016, said the concerns of the NPP were being “addressed one way or the other” and their criticisms were baseless.

“My party’s position is that this is all part of a grand agenda to prepare the minds of their supporters to reject the outcome of the November polls. We believe that we are going to win, and because they have no message to present to the people, they are sowing the seeds to have legitimate ground to reject the outcome, which is most unfortunate,” he stated.

Dr Apaak said he did not understand why the NPP was creating a bad image for the EC, as that could have a negative impact on the elections.

“It is the only body that we can count on for a fair and transparent election. If we demonise the EC at this early stage, then quite clearly we are sowing the seed for a major disagreement on the outcome of what they are already propagating,” he warned.

Dr Apaak, therefore, cautioned the members of the NPP to be decorous with their comments about the work of the EC Chair.

“We have been very restrained in our comments on the EC and I will wish you would ask the NPP why they have the tendency to go after the EC. This, I believe, didn’t start with Madam Charlotte Osei; it began with Dr Afari Gyan and had its way to the present,” he further noted.