Electoral Commission Is Being Mischievous - NPP Chairman

The Chairman of NPP UK Mr Hayford Atta-Krufi has stated that he smells mischief in the recent decision by the Electoral Commission to create 45 new constituencies in response to the NDC’s creation of new districts. He believes that the NDC and EC are in cahoots to cheat the people of Ghana in the forthcoming elections. He does not understand why less than six months to a major election at a time when the entire electoral system is being overhauled from manual to biometric register, the Ec should suddenly saddle itself with the creation of 45 new constituencies. “I smell rat, I smell mischief” he lamented. He was speaking on the programme( Ade akye abia ) on Sources radio UK in London on Saturday.

He indicated during the interview that the decision by the Ghana Statistical Services to withhold the population census for two years was a prelude to this collusion between the government and the Electoral Commission. He said “even without knowing the population census as it had not been officially released, the government, through the Ministry of Local Government went ahead with its plans to create new districts based on land mass and not the population per square mile. This was clearly illegal” “How can we create new districts ahead of knowing the population census?” he questioned.

“In creating a district and for that matter constituency, the motive must be for development of the people of the area. Consideration must therefore be given to the population of the area being carved for that purpose. It is not about how bid the land is but how the creation can help create accessibility for the people in terms of resources. Districts and constituencies must therefore serve the needs of the people not the land mass” he emphasised. “In the recent biometric registration Ejisu Juaben recorded over 190,000 voter population. Kumawu recorded just over 50,000. Yet Kumawu constituency is going to be carved because they have a new district at the Afram Plains end of that constituency. Ejisu Juaben will still be one constituency. How fair is this? Land mass or the number of people?”

He criticised the EC for its propaganda headline in stating that Ashanti being an NPP stronghold is getting the most. “This is most childlike and no matter how you dress a goat, it is still a goat,” he said. He called on the leadership of the political parties in Ghana to rise up against it and pleaded with IPAC to kick this bogus idea into the tall grass. “Have they considered the cost implications for the political parties in re-organising primaries again and the legal implications it will bring? It is sheer creation of confusion if this madness is allowed to happen. We will never be ready for the elections in December if all these unnecessary intrusions are allowed in our political calendar” he warned.

Nana Sarkodie. Ababio

Source: Sources Radio UK 96.3FM

soucesradio@yahoo.co.uk

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