Learn to respect - Haruna Iddrisu takes on EC Chairperson Jean Mensa

Minority leader and Member of Parliament (MP) for Tamale South Haruna Iddrisu has called out the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission of Ghana (EC) Mrs Jean Mensa, stressing that she must respect political parties as institutions she has to work.

Mr Iddrisu underscored the point that the Electoral Commission (EC) will not exist if there are no political parties. Therefore she must accord political parties the respect they deserve as key stakeholders.

His comments follow anomalies that have been detected in the voter register during the recently ended voter exhibition exercise.

“Electoral Commission (EC) as created by article 45 of the constitution. Where is an Electoral Commission which has no respect for political parties? Again trite knowledge in Political Science. There is no EC when there are no viable, efficient and functional political parties. She must respect the political parties as institutions she must work with,” he noted while addressing an event covered by MyNewsGh.com

The opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) led by its flagbearer, John Mahama, warned that it will not accept the results of a flawed election.

Mr Iddrisu explained that it was trite knowledge that a credible register is a prerequisite for free and fair elections so the NDC’s resolve to not accept results of a flawed election is justified.

He went on to assert that the laws of Ghana make it compulsory for the EC to work with political parties by, for example, furnishing them with the voters register so that they can examine it to ensure fairness.



“Regulation 22(2) of CI 91 provides that at the end of the compilation of the provisional register as provided in sub-regulation 1, a copy of the provisional register shall be given to each registered political party. It is a requirement of law, for the purpose of transparency and purpose of credibility of the elections,” he pointed out.

Mr Iddrisu insisted that a flawed election was a usurpation of the sovereign will and mandate of the people.

Meanwhile, the EC has today insisted that notwithstanding the challenges during the exhibition, the EC is on its way to deliver a credible election come December 7, 2020.