After their (NDC) expostulation with the Electoral Commission to task a "forensic audit" ended in blue ruin, another tactic they have resorted to is to scrutinize the EC's IT department.

It is sometimes pathetic when their self-confessed decree of having oceans of professors fortify their literalistic citadels by giving their flagbearer and party members prophylactic measures of dopiness. Instead, "those professors" continue to blazon and document themselves as Einsteins.

In accordance with Article 46 of the 1992 Constitution, the Electoral Commission of Ghana is an independent institution and electoral sovereign, or better still, an autonomous electoral syndicate. As a result, they cannot be baited or rigged to favour any political party, as they have the constitutional and legal authority to remain independent of any political party's influence.

Once again, the Electoral Commission reiterated the scope of their work and competencies when they met with the political parties at the Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC), where all the political parties were educated structurally and pedagogically. It still resonates with me when, in September 2023, Dr. Afari Gyan, who is apparently inclined to being an NDC advocate, urged the NDC Party to reconcile with IPAC when he spoke at their "NDC Third Annual Lawyers Conference" in the Eastern Region after they distanced themselves from that organization. He emphasized that "IPAC promotes fair, credible elections."

On this same issue of IPAC, in April 2016, during John Mahama's "Accounting to the People Tour" in the Brong Ahafo Region, he stated, "We have some political parties that have a tradition of haranguing and just harassing the commission, and I think that must stop." He mentioned the New Patriotic Party clearly as the culprit.

He further stated, "They [EC] are going to do the limited registration, and after that, the register will be exhibited. Every political party at the branch level must take their copy of the exhibited register and assist the Electoral Commission to remove the names of dead people from the register." It was therefore surprising when I heard that the NDC leaders have proposed that the Electoral Commission vet their IT systems.

Although the EC has the constitutional leeway to assess the effectiveness of every political party in accordance with the Political Parties Act, 2000 (Act 574), this does not give them the right to delve into the internal workings of political parties.

What they do is ensure that all political parties have offices at national and regional levels and at least in two-thirds of the districts in the country, and to evaluate whether they acquired their offices fairly or hired them. These activities do not grant them the authority to intrude into the internal workings of political parties, unlike what the NDC seems to believe this time around. The sole legally and regulatorily established channel for the NDC to express their grievances and request changes is to understand and appreciate the significance of the Legal Framework - Regulations 23 of C.I. 91, which outlines:

The Compilation of Provisional Voters Register comprehensively, rather than second-guessing the commission drably and risibly. The process under that regulation is clear because it states that, "The Commission shall, not later than three months from the end of the registration period, compile and display the provisional voters’ register in the country, stating the name, age, sex, residential address, and showing the photograph of each person whose application for registration was accepted at a registration centre." The current Flagbearer of the NDC Party once praised this specific exercise of the Electoral Commission.

Considering this, how did John Mahama and his party members come to the conclusion that the Electoral Commission is no longer a valued, perceptive, and credible institution? Is it because his presidential ambition has been rejected by Ghanaians once again? In July 2016, John Mahama described Ghana's Electoral Commission as one of the best in the world, urging Ghanaians to grant the Commission the space and peace of mind to conduct that year’s election.

However, the NDC hierarchy's attempt to challenge the Electoral Commission is bound to fail! This is the same political party whose General Secretary, Asiedu Nketiah, claimed that the collations done by the EC officials in the 2020 general election were flawed and that they had the accurate results. Yet, when asked by the Supreme Court, he was seen struggling to respond.

Now, this same party is at it again, causing a stir. Their call to evaluate the IT structures at the EC office doesn't make sense. Ghana doesn't belong to the NDC Party, and they can never undermine our democratic coherence or forcefully impose their will on the people of this country, if that is their intention, period!