General News of Sunday, 9 September 2012

Source: radioxyzonline

45 Constituencies: EC boss must take concerns seriously - Lawyer

A legal practitioner Yaw Oppong has observed that though the death threats and verbal attacks being directed at the Electoral Commission chairman, Dr Afari Gyan are regrettable and must be investigated, it is necessary that the EC Commissioner pays heed to the numerous concerns that have been raised about the creation of the 45 new constituencies.

Mr Yaw Oppong says the EC in the discharge of its constitutional mandate must ensure that the supreme interest and the cohesion of the state is always protected.

He made the remarks when he appeared as a panelist on Radio XYZ’s current affairs programme ‘THE ANALYST’ on Saturday.

“Even though he (Dr. Afari Gyan) seems to have very little problem with that, I think that if he can be threatened, anybody else too can be threatened and so he should also assist the police to do all they [can] to investigate,” Mr Oppong said.

He said the chairman should consider the views of the various stakeholders before going ahead with the decision to create more constituencies because if it is not handled well, it could end up creating more problems for the nation.