Sam George’s actions at EC meeting condemned

Member of Parliament of Ningo Prampram, Sam George has come under fire for masterminding a near-violent confrontation at a meeting by Staff of Electoral Commission at a Hotel in Accra over the weekend.

The MP had secured an ex-parte injunction against the meeting in Prampram, which is within his constituency.

However, unknown to Sam George the meeting was moved to a hotel in Accra, rendering his injunction invalid.

The MP, had among other things, argued that, he took the action to protect his constituents from contracting COVID-19 since the meeting or the workshop by the EC was being held in his constituency.

According to our sources, the meeting was moved quietly to a hotel in Accra with strict enforcement of COVID-19 social distancing protocols.

This paper can confirm that, participants of the workshop did not exceed 25 and in some cases, less than 20 people participated.

Surprisingly, Sam George led over 100 NDC activists to the new venue in an attempt to disrupt the meeting, which observers believe would have led to violence without the police presence.

As a matter of fact, references have been to Mr George’s role in the violence that occurred at the infamous by-election at Ayawaso West Wuogon, which saw innocent people being maimed.

This unfortunate electoral episode has left an indelible mark on our electoral history.

For an MP, who secured an injunction to protect his people, he should have been in a jubilant mood when the meeting was moved from his constituency.

Mr George’s actions have been condemned by many who hold the view that, the huge congregation at the venue breached the social distancing protocol as many of his party activists had no facemasks and were also close to each other.

He also put the lives of the EC staff in danger as well as the security officers who were called in to restore order.

As a member of parliament, who is supposed to ensure the enforcement of laws and directives, it was sound strange that he will lead over 100 people to the new venue without observing social distancing protocols.

The Prampram MP had explained that, the EC was breaching the court order hence his decision to report the matter to the police.

However, his explanation has been rejected by some Ghanaians who believe, the location for the meeting did not breach any law as the court summons was categorical and straightforward as far as the Escape Hotel in Prampram is concerned. The EC, therefore, cannot be accused of disregarding the court process.

Monitoring of comments and opinions by this paper on social media indicates that, it was not proper for the MP to organise thugs to disrupt a legitimate work of a statutory body like the Electoral Commission and that the best he could have done was to cite the EC for contempt and not the use of crude methods to achieve a legal mission.

Meanwhile, this paper gathers that, the said meeting had been planned long ago but was put on ice following the three-week lockdown announced by the president. In effect, the EC was doing a legitimate job.