Ghana heading to a flawed Election 2020 – Mahama hints

The presidential candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Dramani Mahama, has reiterated his earlier warning that his party will not accept the results of a flawed electoral process.

Addressing NDC supporters at Abura on Thursday as part of his five-day campaign tour of the Central Region, he said the Electoral Commission (EC) from all indication has set out to organise a flawed election.

“We are not trouble makers. We want to make sure that all of us believe in this election so that if you win or lose, you are prepared to accept. But when we complain, they think that we are just causing trouble. This can lead this nation to chaos because I said it, on December 7 when this election is flawed, we will not accept it. Who accepts a flawed election? Nobody. And everything the electoral commission is doing is showing that we are heading to a flawed election,” Mr Mahama noted.

He said the new voters roll, according to the EC, is supposed to eliminate manual verification but indications are that the “December 7 general elections will have more manual verification of voters than any election".

And when we talk everybody is quiet, and if something untoward happens, then they will say it is this person’s fault but we have given enough warning signal that the electoral commission is creating problems”, Mr Mahama added. He said the EC now treats the Inter-party Advisory Committee (IPAC) as enemy instead of seeing it as a partner for the conduct of free and fair elections.

Mr Mahama said Ghana is a peaceful country and the NDC as a peaceful party will not do anything to upset the democracy of Ghana, adding “but there is a limit to how far you can push a person and I am saying we will not accept a flawed election”.

Mr Mahma therefore urged civil society organisations and other stakeholders to be interested in demanding a free and fair elctoral process ahead of the December 7 elections.

He also repeated his earlier call for international observers to come into the country way ahead of time to join domestic observers to observe the electoral process.

Mr Mahama also charged NDC activists, supporters and footsoldiers to police the ballot box at their various polling stations to ensure that the process is not disrupted on election day, and defend their votes to make sure every single one counts.