A deputy Electoral Commissioner, Dr. Eric Bossman Asare has said the Commission’s return to the use of its old logo will not cost the tax payer any significant amount of money.
The Electoral Commission (EC) has returned to its original logo two years after it, however, under former Chairperson Charlotte Osei.
A memo announcing the restoration of the original logo which bears the coat of arms and a ballot box showing the hand casting a vote stated that the change takes effect from today December 4, 2018.
“The core values of the Electoral Commission, namely integrity, fairness and accountability have from today also been restored.
“All communications from the Electoral Commission must from today, be made on the letterhead bearing the original logo of the Commission as appears on the face of this letterhead Reams of Letterheads are to be picked up from the stores of the Commission.
“Kindly ensure that the most recent logo is removed from the buildings and properties of the Commission,” portions of the memo read.
The Electoral Commission in April 2016 courted huge backlash following the unveiling of a new logo as a section of the public argued it was a waste of public funds.
Then Chairperson then, Charlotte Osei at a ceremony to unveil the new logo mounted a spirited defence of the Commission’s decision to stick to the new logo in spite of the public outcry.
“That is our new logo. We like it, we picked it, and it makes us happy,” she said.
But speaking to Kasapa News, Dr. Bossman Asare stated that having to change the logo on properties of the EC and materials such as letterheads will not cost that much, but he, however, failed to quantify the estimated cost.
“Some of the cost you can’t easily quantify because it’s so insignificant, it’s true that new letterheads will have to be designed and printed out but this is not like someone is going to design a new logo for the EC which will require that tender is opened and other processes passed through, luckily we already have the logo. For the nature of the EC’s work the cost of having to restore the old logo on EC offices, cars and other properties is not something we must be worried about. If the changes are done, we’ll publish the cost for Ghanaians to know.”
Dr Asare noted that there was consensus among all the seven Commissioners and Directors to revert to the old logo because that is more representative of the EC’s work than the one unveiled and used by former Chairperson Charlotte Osei, adding that the move will greatly advance the cause of the Commission.