Politics of Sunday, 10 November 2024

Source: classfmonline.com

NDC 'smells' EC recruiting constituency collation officers, says it's illegal

Collation officers at work after polls Collation officers at work after polls

The National Democratic Congress (NDC) has raised objections to the Electoral Commission’s (EC) decision to recruit Constituency Collation Officers, calling the move illegal and outside the mandates outlined by Ghana's electoral laws, specifically C.I. 127.

The issue has become a point of contention as the EC continues to withhold key voter register statistics—a delay that has raised eyebrows.

According to the NDC, despite the EC having previously released the voter register, the Commission has taken over three days to provide detailed voter statistics to stakeholders.

In a public statement, NDC's Director of Elections and IT, Dr Edward Omane Boamah accused the Commission, under Chairperson Jean Mensah, of ignoring the law, claiming that the role of Constituency Collation Officers is not stipulated in the legal framework governing elections.

Dr Boamah emphasized that "the law mandates only Constituency Returning Officers to handle the collation of results."

The NDC further highlighted that it had formally objected to this move during an Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) meeting, maintaining that the recruitment of Constituency Collation Officers does not fall within the lawful duties assigned to the EC.

The NDC is now calling on the EC to clarify whether it plans to further expand these roles by recruiting Regional Collation Officers, questioning the Commission’s commitment to transparency and accountability in the electoral process.