The Deputy Communication Officer for the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) of the Upper East Region, Andrew Atariwini, has indicated that there is the need for the sanity of the Electoral Commission as an independent body to be respected.
Mr. Atariwini noted that the continued comments on the Commission`s decisions by political parties can have dire consequences regarding its independence and have the potential to breed violence.
“We are breeding a very peaceful atmosphere with potential violence because the EC is an independent body that is supposed to officiate the contest between political actors”, he stated.
Mr. Atariwini added that, “if the political actors begin to cast doubts based on their political interests and call the EC names to erode the trust the Ghanaian people should have in the EC, then we are marked for doom.”
He made this assertion when he spoke to Mark Smith on A1 Radio`s Daybreak Upper East show in line with the voter-limited registration and the position of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) on the exercise being held at its District and Municipal offices.
According to him, the NDC, that ignored the Inter Party Advisory Committee (IPAC), where these decisions were made, is now “leading the chant against the EC.”
However, the Upper East Regional Communication Officer of the NDC, Jonathan Abdallah Salifu, disagreed with his assertion.
He argued that the fundamental issue has to do with the fact that a lot of people would be disenfranchised, and the EC has set itself up to be questioned.
He noted that apart from the issue of the network and the difficulty presented to registrants in traveling to the registration centers, the machines in question used by the EC are also posing a challenge, thereby slowing down the process and worsening the plight of registrants.
Meanwhile, the Upper East Regional Director of the Electoral Commission, William Obeng Adarkwah, have acknowledged the challenges confronted by registrants.
“We admit that we know our territory, and we know some of the challenges that could confront a lot of people who would have loved to register,” he stated.
He added that “we will urge opinion leaders, political parties, and anybody so patriotic to assist in certain areas where they think distances are too challenging for prospective registrants to be helped in terms of transport.”
Source: A1radioonline.Com|101.1MHz|Gilbert Azeem Tiroog|Bolgatanga
