Deputy Minister-designate for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Emmanuel Habuka Bombande, has called on Ghanaians to uphold and respect the sanctity of the Electoral Commission (EC) and accord same respect to all other institutions.

He also dismissed assertions that the 2016 elections were threatened.

Addressing members of the Appointments Committee on Friday July 22, Mr Bombande, who is also a security expert, insisted that if institutions were allowed to function effectively, there would be no challenge that the country could not overcome.

“I want to say that Ghanaians should relax because parliament is an institution; yesterday it worked. Yes, civil society and other groups worked with our Members of Parliament to develop consensus about bringing the elections four weeks back, but that did not happen. But that has nothing to do with the fact that there is any threat on our election. It simply means that parliament as an institution performed a function and parliament should continue to be strong in performing its function,” he stated.

“What it then also requires is that we should give the same respect and accord to all institutions – the Electoral Commission, the National Commission for Civic Education, the Election Security Taskforce and all the security agencies – because anytime the institutions are supported to function efficiently, there is no difficulty we cannot overcome. The only situation where there is anxiety is when institutions are undermined in performing their duties, so I see our process will be credible, it will be free and it will be transparent.”