2024 Elections: EC’s incompetence can take away lives – Gbande

The Deputy General Secretary in charge of Operations for the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mustapha Gbande, has lampooned the current administration of the Electoral Commission (EC), describing it as "dangerously incompetent."

He warned that the EC’s failures could undermine Ghana's democracy and lead to political instability.

Mr. Gbande stated: “The current Electoral Commission, apart from the fact that some of them are political affiliates, have demonstrated dangerous incompetence.

Their incompetence can undermine the democracy of this country. Their incompetence can take away lives. I cannot rate them because it is beyond what I can rate.”

He questioned the wisdom of placing trust in an institution he views as incompetent, arguing that trust should be based on competence and strict adherence to rules.

Mr. Gbande also criticized the EC's handling of security lapses and administrative errors, citing incidents where devices were reportedly stolen from the EC's headquarters without detection and unauthorised voter data transfers occurred without the commission's knowledge.

"This is an Electoral Commission that sits at the headquarters, people enter its offices, steal devices, and they said they are not aware. This is a Commission that sits down, its officers transfer information and they say they are not aware. They call that an honest mistake,” he added.

He made these revelations while speaking on Accra-based Joy News TV.