Stakeholders in the 2024 elections have been advised not to force anyone to accept an election results which everyone knows has been rigged.
The Electoral Commission, has in a recent statement urged the political parties to accept the outcome of the election results be it a win or lose since one of the two possible outcomes is a must.
But security expert, Col. Festus Boahen Aboagye (Rtd.), has urged the Commission not to urge any party to the polls to accept any results which has been rigged.
According to him, there is nothing like free, fair and transparent election in Ghana.
Col. Aboagye says although the National Peace Council for instance has put the parties together to pledge itself towards peace and accept the outcome of the polls, they usually attach a caveat that the exercise must be free, fair and transparent.
Speaking on Ghana Tonight on TV3 Thursday, August 01, 2024, the security expert did not mince words to say that elections in Ghana lack the tenets of fair, transparent and free.
“There have been certain forums where at the instance of the National Peace Council where political parties have been brought together and have been encouraged to commit themselves to accept election results.
“But when we make committal, we make it on the basis of assumptions being valid so both political parties will say ‘okay, I’ll accept the outcome of the elections then they will post a caveat that it’s free, fair, transparent and you and I know that there are many reasons why our elections are not transparent and they are not free and they are not fair,” he explained.
Based on that, he advised that nobody forces anyone to accept a result everyone knows is not a true reflection of how people voted.
“So, I think nobody should compel anybody for the sake of what we are calling national peace and stability, to accept results that they themselves know they have rigged. So the primary responsibility on the part of all of us is to ensure that we are fair and we are true to the processes,” he advised.
He was commenting on the National Security minister’s statement that the EC must ensure it conducts a free, fair and transparent.
Source:onuaonline.com