Electoral roll: Gyampo explains why EC is not heeding to NDC’s call for forensic audit; provides a roadmap

Ransford Edward Van Gyampo, a Professor of Political Science at the University of Ghana, has asked the Electoral Commission (EC) to call for a stakeholders meeting to address the issues being raised by the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) and other parties.

He says the EC is refusing to heed to the NDC’s call for a forensic audit of the roll because it feels its integrity will be questioned for doing that.

For him, he says although he doesn’t see anyone doing anything wrong at the EC, members at the Commission however feel that accepting the concerns the NDC is raising easily will taint their credibility.

The Professor is therefore calling for a medium where all the parties would meet for the issues to be addressed, without the Commission feeling its credibility will be under question.

The Professor spoke with TV3’s Christian Yalley Monday, September 23, 2024, at the National Democratic Congress’ (NDC) meeting with some Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and other stakeholders to present the party’s observations with the register.

“I don’t know for a fact that somebody has done something that is wrong at the EC. But my point is, if it so happens that somebody did something inadvertently, and then you say that let us do forensic audit, it becomes a bit difficult for the person managing the Commission to say, ‘yes, I’ve easily acceded to that’ because if someone under the headship of the Commission had done something untoward, then it means you’re just going to throw the person under the bus.

“So, if that’s all they are looking for, so that the credibility of the voters’ roll will not be questioned, then, it wouldn’t hurt, why don’t we all say that, let the EC sit with stakeholders, and then at a go, let all of them dialogue about these issues. I believe that at such a forum, the NDC will be comfortable to bring out all its issues,” he counselled.

Speaking at the meeting with the CSOs and stakeholders, the Director of Elections and IT for the opposition NDC, Dr. Edward Kofi Omane Boamah, noted that “it’s not just a matter of fixing the errors but also the vulnerabilities inherent in the register.”

The NDC said it has lost trust in the Commission because the EC does not have credibility and reliability as it stands.

Stolen BVD kits

Dr. Omane Boamah raised concerns about the theft of some Biometric Verification Devices (BVDs).

He questioned whether the missing devices were part of a move to rig the elections in any party’s favour.

“The Biometric Verification Devices kits that got stolen, could it be a product of that criminal enterprise, because those BVR laptops got stolen under CCTV surveillance?” he quizzed.

According to him, “the layers of security at the EC is beyond what you see.”

Meanwhile, the Electoral Commission has assured of its resolve to deliver free, fair and credible elections this year.

The NDC’s meeting with the CSOs was necessitated by what the party has described as “unproductive” engagement with the EC on the same issue.

The party on September 17, 2024 led the ‘Enough is Enough’ demonstration across the country, following which it presented a petition to the EC to address the concerns it has raised.

Source:onuaonline.com