EC disqualifications: Ghanaians ‘lackadaisical’ - Fritz Baffour

Ghanaians tend to be carefree when dealing with critical matters, only to request a second opportunity to right things when the undesirable consequences of such cavalier attitudes stare them in the face, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ablekuma South, Fritz Baffour, has lamented.

His comment comes in the wake of the disqualification of 13 flag bearers by the Electoral Commission from the 2016 presidential race due to anomalies with their nomination forms.

The chair of the Electoral Commission, Mrs Charlotte Osei, who announced the disqualification of the aspirants, cited filing anomalies including fraudulent signatures, absence of a required number of signatures, improper filling of nomination forms, among others, as the reasons for the EC’s decision.

The 2016 presidential aspirants disqualified include the flag bearer of the All People's Congress (APC), Hassan Ayariga; Dr Edward Mahama of the People's National Convention (PNC); Dr Agyenim Boateng of the United Front Party (UFP); Kofi Akpaloo of the Independent People's Party (IPP); Kwabena Adjei of the Reformed Patriotic Democrats (RPD); and Dr Papa Kwesi Nduom of the Progressive People's Party (PPP).

The others include: Dr Henry Herbert Lartey of the Great Consolidated Popular Party (GCPP); Mr Richard Nixon Tetteh (United Development Systems Party); Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings of the National Democratic Party (NDP); Thomas Ward-Brew of the Democratic People’s Party (DPP); Alfred Kwame Asiedu Walker, an independent candidate, and Akua Donkor of the Ghana Freedom Party (GFP). Mr Akwasi Addae Odike of the United Progressive Party's nomination is on hold pending a court case.

Commenting on the issue, the former Information Minister said: “Ghanaians, myself included, tend to be lackadaisical when confronted with the need to be…precise. In most cases, we either intone that ‘leave it to God’ or believe that we will be given a second opportunity to rectify matters if errors are made in any given endeavour.”

He stressed that “our woeful inability to be diligent and thorough when prosecuting our vital governance processes is what has created this crisis”.

Mr Baffour, who made these comments on his Facebook wall on Friday, October 24, explained that Ghana’s current political sphere is in uproar with threats of legal suits.

He was not enthused with how “one candidate has gone so far as to utter rather unpalatable epithets at the vivacious but trenchant head of the Commission, Mrs Charlotte Osei”.

He indicated that as some of the aspirants have raised the spectre of selective justice and unfairness, the “public, who are the main determinants of the electoral process, looks on bemused, confused, and in two minds about this relatively earth-shaking decision” of the EC.