Jean Adukwei Mensah (EC Chair)
The Chairperson of the Electoral Commission (EC) of Ghana in the person of Mrs Jean Adukwei Mensa has come clear on the fact that, it is not the duty of the elections management body to provide security for electoral activities in Ghana making it known that,the duties of the EC that has been specified in the constitution of Ghana do not include providing security during polls.
This follows an excerpt of her speech that had to deal with the security of the nation and citizens during elections, Mrs Jean Nelson after making her stands clear however expressed concerns about the deaths that too a feature in the 2020 general elections.
During the 7th December, 2020 polls, a total of 61 electoral and post-electoral incidents were recorded nationwide of which was announced by the Ghana Police Service in a statement on Wednesday, December 9, 2020.
In the statement brought forth by officials of the security service, it was reported that, a total of 21 incidents were true cases of electoral violence of which six involved gunshots, resulting in the death of five people.
Statements from the police further noted that, in as much as there were true reports of violence, there were several news about supposed electoral violence which where fake.
“However, between 0700 hours of 7th December, 2020 and 1000 hours of 9th December, 2020; the Joint Operation Centre of the NESTF has recorded a total of sixty-one (61) electoral and post electoral incidents nationwide. Twenty-one of the incidents are true cases of electoral violence, six of which involve gunshots resulting in the death of five,” .
Mrs Jean Adukwei Mensa made it loud at an Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) meeting“ on Tuesday in Accra saying “An exceedingly disturbing challenge is the violence which led to the death of citizens of our country”.
“And we say never again. Never again should we go to an election and have anybody lose their lives. Here also, there is a tendency for fingers to be pointed at the EC when security is not the core mandate of the EC”.
“I have read the constitution and security is not part of our core mandate. I use this occasion to clarify that the EC is not responsible for election security, although the entire electionand its success rest on the shoulders of the Commission. Our mandate as entrenched in the Constitution does not include security.”
The Chairperson in her assertion further proposed that, polls in Ghana should end at 3pm and not 5pm.
“We propose closing the polls at 3pm rather than 5pm. In 2019, we announced our decision to close the polls at 3pm rather than 5pm, in the 2020 Electio Nonetheless, owing to the COVID-19 pandemic and the stringent, and necessarily time-consuming safety protocols we instituted at our polling stations, we were compelled to put this proposal on hold.
“Over the past months, however, this proposal has re-surfaced from various sections of the public, and indeed, our own experience from the 2020 Election has revealed that it is a workable proposal, as by 1pm, most polling stations were empty, suggesting that this is a workable proposal. Therefore, this is a reform we intend to put forward.”
Source: www.urstrulypraiznews.com
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