General News of Thursday, 23 May 2019

Source: mynewsgh.com

Jean Mensa, Deputies turning EC into a ‘Secret Society’- Mahama laments

Former President John Dramani Mahama Former President John Dramani Mahama

The Former President, John Dramani Mahama has cautioned Jean Mensa led Electoral Commission (EC) not to turn the electoral body into a secret society challenging them to be transparent in the management of activities leading up to the 2020 elections.

Madam Jean Mensa and her Deputies in recent times have come under heavy criticisms from particularly the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) over some disagreements relating to the conduct of the upcoming limited voter registration exercise.

The NDC in a statement issued on May 21, 2019 and signed by its National Communication Officer Sammy Gyemfi justified an earlier assertion by its flagbearer that the Electoral Commission cannot be neutral in conducting the 2020 elections.

In an interview on Accra based Citi FM monitored by MyNewsGh.com, Former President Mahama expressed worry over what he inferred as the clandestine manner in which the EC is carrying out essential activities including the procurement of an IT system.

“The EC is not forthcoming as it should with information as it should be with the political parties so that we can defend the EC and say look we are confident in what you are doing and we give a stamp of approval to what you are doing” he said.

He prevailed upon the electoral commission to step up their engagement with the political parties in order to foster transparency and build trust among all the stakeholders involved in the election process adding that “They (EC) need to take the political parties more on board, they need to create a better relationship with the political parties. They need to be more open and transparent. The EC is not a secret society, it is not somebody’s private closet that needs to be shut and no one knows what’s going on there.”