'We're just playing with fire' - Bagbin as he accuses government of preventing EC from being a free referee

The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, has accused the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo government of preventing the Electoral Commission of Ghana (EC) from being an impartial electoral body.

Speaking in an interview on TV3 on September 10, 2024, the Speaker of Parliament indicated that some of the appointments made by the government to the leadership of the commission have contributed to the growing mistrust of the institution by a section of the public.

He added that some of the remarks made by some of the leaders of the EC have also made some of the stakeholders in the country’s electoral system think the commission cannot be neutral as it is supposed to be.

“So far, the EC has been prevented from being seen as an impartial arbiter. You could see the background of some of the employees and the statements that they have made. It hasn’t placed them in the position that this is going to be an unbiased referee, and that has affected the credibility of the Electoral Commission.

“Some of the directors have made clear statements about some of the political parties, you know, trying to pitch the commission against those political parties and painting those political parties in such a way that they are the problem in the country and not any other person. That should not come from the mouth of somebody working in the Electoral Commission,” he said.

He added, “But that is what we have now, and all calls to the powers that be, particularly the government, to take action because those appointees by the government have fallen on deaf ears. And so a party like the National Democratic Congress feels strongly that the Electoral Commission, as currently composed, is unfavourable to the party beyond the directors.”

Asked whether he meant the government is preventing the EC from being a fair referee, the Speaker of Parliament retorted, “Exactly that. Exactly that.”

He also added that the current happenings in the EC, including the sale of some of its equipment and its devices going missing, are not helping matters.

He cited the concerns raised by Kofi Bentil, the Vice President of IMANI Africa at the Speakers Seminal Lecture held at Tamale, about the EC including the auction of equipment, which IMANI deemed as perfectly working, as an example of the reasons people are having issues with the current commission.

“Apart from that, you have heard, even from civil society, allegations of some untoward things happening at the commission - missing equipment. As of today, at the lecture, lawyer Kofi Bentil still stressed that they believed strongly that what the Electoral Commission put up was incorrect and that those equipment plus what they said were disused equipment that had to be replaced were actually not the true state of affairs. That is the view they still hold as of today,” he added.

The Speaker of Ghana’s Parliament added that if the challenges with the EC are not resolved, it can lead to serious consequences.

“The Electoral Commission itself has come out to talk about the lack of logistics and resources to do their work. These are all things that the establishment - the government, could take action to solve. If that is not being taken, then how can you build trust? And so, it’s for all of us to coalesce, work together to make sure that the right thing is done before election day, or else we are just playing with fire," he said.

He added, “Anything could happen that day, and none of us is praying for that to happen. But if you go to the election and you see that the officials themselves will count up to 20 and the next ballot is 70, then you know you are in trouble.”

BAI/AE

Watch the latest episode of Everyday People on GhanaWeb TV below:





Ghana’s leading digital news platform, GhanaWeb, in conjunction with the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, is embarking on an aggressive campaign which is geared towards ensuring that parliament passes comprehensive legislation to guide organ harvesting, organ donation, and organ transplantation in the country.