Thursday's Elections will come on

Dr Kwadwo Afari-Gyan, Chairman of the Electoral Commission (EC), has said that Thursday's parliamentary and presidential elections will come on as scheduled and every eligible voter must cast his or her vote on that day.

He said the final poll results could be declared within 72 hours after the end of voting.

Briefing the press in Accra on the preparedness of the EC on the elections, he dispelled misinformation about the exercise and stressed that the Supreme Court has not changed the date of voting.

In the encounter organised by the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) and sponsored by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation (FES), the chairman said everything was set for the elections and that each district was aware that the date remained unchanged.

Dr Afari-Gyan said the Court in Monday's judgement only ruled that photo ID cards must be used alongside with the thumbprint voter ID cards on the elections day.

He said the decision of the court is binding on every citizen whether one was happy about it or not.

"The Supreme Court is the highest court in the land and its decision is obligatory and must be obeyed by everyone."

He said the voting procedures remained the same.

"The voting pattern is transparent and at each point of the voting process there is an identifiable glaring system, which would make it impossible for any one to cheat.

"The result of any polling station where the number of votes cast would exceed the number of registered voters would be cancelled."

Dr. Afari-Gyan urged Ghanaians to avoid making wild allegations about imagined electoral fraud and suspicions because one could not get things done in his favour.

He condemned those who falsely believe the elections would be rigged and said people make pronouncements that tend to erode confidence in an elaborate electoral system.

"Most of the time we talk about rights without talking about our duties and responsibilities and then fail to understand and appreciate how the electoral system operates," the Electoral Commissioner said.

Dr Afari-Gyan said electoral laws are not made on political platforms and that anyone who is unsatisfied with any act of the electoral law should go to court.

He said some people are in the habit of fabricating cock and bull stories any time they are unable to have their way.

Mrs Gifty Affenyi-Dadzie, President of the GJA, appealed to the media to abide by the guidelines of the association on the elections to ensure that the press is not seen as the starter to any trouble.

She said it is only certified results that should be announced by the press and urged them to crosscheck any information, allegations and complaints or pieces of information that they would stumble upon to make them credible.

Mr Peter Schellschmidt, Resident Director of FES, said "Ghana's electoral system and its implementation has won admiration for its transparency and so it is no wonder that Ghanaian electoral officials continue to be in high demand by international organisations such as the UN, OAU and the Commonwealth".

He urged the EC to be more determined in the face of current events not to disappoint the expectations of Ghanaians in Thursday's elections.