EC not above the law- Kufuor

Ex-president John Kufuor is unhappy with the conduct of the Electoral Commission in the 2012 elections, saying it should be held responsible for any acts of violence and not political parties.

The former president said this when the AU chairman and president of Benin, Yayi Boni paid a courtesy call on him at his residence on Monday.

The AU chair wanted ex-president Kufuor to prevail on the New Patriotic Party flagbearer Nana Akufo-Addo to concede defeat in a closely fought election which saw the NPP candidate lose by a little over 300,000 votes to the incumbent, President John Mahama.

But the ex-president said Nana Akufo-Addo feels cheated in an election dogged with several manipulations of figures.

Joy News’ Manasseh Awuni Azure who was present at the meeting reported the ex-president as saying that the Electoral Commission should be held responsible for any acts of violence and not the politician.

Mr Kufuor said the NPP has enough evidence to show that figures were massaged to favour the ruling party.

According to him, in one of the constituencies, as many as 16,000 votes were added to a political party’s candidate to shore up figures and to guarantee victory in the election.

He said these manipulations cannot be swept under the carpet, adding, the party will provide evidence sooner than later.

Mr Kufuor said the country has invested over 100 million cedis in the EC to conduct peaceful and fair elections but the happenings during and the after the elections have not justified the investment made in them.

He said the EC for the past two years acted as though it was above the law, a position which should not be tolerated.