This article will take an objective view of the whole electioneering process for the benefit of politicians who have ears to listen and act accordingly if they desire to win the upcoming Presidential and Parliamentary elections on 7th December, 2016.
Painting the Electoral Commission (EC) black will NOT win any political party the 2016 general elections. Individuals with certain political, ideological, religious, racial and ethnic inclinations have to be appointed to man both state and non-state institutions despite the advancement in technology. Having been so appointed, such individuals need time to settle into their positions, and be given the benefit of the doubt to play the role of a statesman/person until proven otherwise with uncontrovertible evidence.
The retired Chairman of the EC, Dr. Afari Gyan was fortunate because, there wasn’t party politics in Ghana prior to his appointment, so there wasn’t much noise when he was appointed the Chairman of the EC by President Rawlings, after having previously served as the Chairman of the National Commission for Democracy (NCD) and later as Chairman of the Interim National Electoral Commission (INEC).
When a President is voted into power, he doesn’t assume the mantle of State to rule for the benefit of only those who voted him into office. The policies mooted and implemented by the Presidents we have had under the Fourth Republic, all implemented policies for the benefit or detriment of all Ghanaians.
In a similar vein, someone has to appoint somebody! This is an undeniable fact and the 1992 Constitution has clearly stated the procedure for appointing the Chairman of the EC which was adhered to by the President. The EC Chairman’s position is equated to the office of a Court of Appeal Judge, but the Constitution did not require the Chairman of the EC to have the qualifications of a Court of Appeal Judge, which includes among several requirements for the person to have a ‘high moral character and integrity’, which was the bone of contention in the ‘ABBAN CASE’. To put it bluntly, a ‘prostitute’ qualifies to be appointed the Chairman of the EC if the President so wishes and the laid down procedures are followed.
Dr. Afari Gyan was appointed by Chairman Rawlings of the PNDC and this fact did not stop Dr. Afari Gyan from declaring J. A. Kufour of the NPP as winner of the 2000 elections. When the tables turned in 2008, the same Dr. Afari Gyan declared the late Atta Mills as winner of the 2008 Presidential elections. Therefore, despite the fact that, the current Chairperson of the EC was appointed by the current President, nothing can stop her from declaring any other Presidential candidate as winner of the 2016 general elections other than the current President. The only thing that can stop her from declaring any other Presidential candidate other than the current President as winner, is if the current President wins the elections at the polling stations! Elections are not won at the EC headquarters in Accra. The headquarters merely declares what has transpired at the polling stations!
Can the Chairman of the EC declare a loser in the 2016 Presidential elections as the winner? The answer to this question would have been in the affirmative if it was in regard of the 1992 Presidential elections. The electoral process in Ghana, has advanced in terms of making the elections results credible since the 1992 general elections. Ghana’s electoral process, is top notch! Even our colonial masters, the United Kingdom’s electoral process, is not as advanced as that of Ghana. I voted in three (3) general elections in the UK. The only qualification to vote was and is still being a Commonwealth Citizen! End of story! Can a Commonwealth Citizen register and vote in Ghana? No Chance!! The UK voter card is just a hard paper. No photo, not to talk of biometric voter registration.
The electoral process in Ghana is such that, it will be the fault of the political parties or individuals contesting the Presidential/Parliamentary elections that will hand victory to their opponents in the 2016 general elections, thus, compelling the Chairman of the EC as the 1992 Constitution demands, to declare such a candidate as the winner. Why is this the position?
As Dr. Afari Gyan once famously said, “elections are won and lost at the polling stations”. This statement is more valid today than when it was made. Statements in the print and electronic media lambasting the EC will not hand victory to any political party on a silver platter come 7th December, 2016. The EC cannot and will not dare pronounce any figures different from what has been declared at the polling stations!
For example, calling for a new voters register could have ended this country with a much bloated voters register than the current one if the political parties had done the same mistake by not appointing the right caliber of persons (polling agents) to police the registration process.
Back to winning the elections at the polling stations. All political parties/candidates are supposed to have polling agents at all the polling stations. Is this the situation on the ground on election days? No! There are some political parties/candidates who fail to assign agents to some polling stations due to financial constraints, and this is to their detriment.
Failure to appoint agents to all the designated polling stations, is one sure way of losing the 2016 Presidential/Parliamentary elections. It is not only appointing any Tom, Dick and Harry as a polling agent, it is the matter of appointing persons who cannot only read and write, but understand the whole electoral process, especially, the duties and responsibilities of the polling agent during and after the elections.
These include the process of raising objections with regards to the validity of ballot papers during the counting process; signing the declaration of poll sheet that was coloured pink in the 2012 general elections, thus, earning the nickname, “pink sheet”; forwarding the declaration of poll sheet from the polling station to the constituency collation centre agents for the figures on the declaration of poll sheet to be cross checked against the figures received at the constituency collation centre before the results are transmitted onwards, etc. Suffice is to say that, due to cost cutting, most political parties/candidates, do not make it a condition binding on the polling agents to forward the declaration of poll sheets to the constituency collation agent at the collation centre.
Some political parties/candidates are the cause of their failure to win the Presidential/Parliamentary elections. Before every general elections, the EC will invite the various political parties/candidates to nominate and send persons to it to train as polling agents. In most instances, some political parties/candidates will just send anybody to the training just to satisfy the demands of the EC. On the actual voting day, most of these people who were sent for the training will not be appointed as polling agents. Even if a ‘class 6 pupil’ is sent for the training, he will have a better knowledge regarding the duties and responsibilities of a polling agent than the holder of a Masters Degree who has had no such training.
If any figures are disputed by the collation agent/agents, the only cure to that dispute will be the declaration of poll sheet from the polling station agents. If the polling station agents fail to forward the declaration of poll sheets to the constituency collation centre agent, then how can an objection to some figures be effectively contested? The rules are that, the Returning Officer will go ahead and declare the winner, and anyone with baseless objections without documentary proof can do that later in court.
This is why it is very important to have persons who are not only literates, but those with functioning brains and NOT those who can insult or shout the most as polling agents. The EC so-called strong room in Accra, is not as ‘strong’ as the polling station. The ‘strong room’ only declares what has been sent to it from the various polling stations. Any attempt by the EC Chair to declare any results different from what has been communicated to the EC from the various collation centres, will spell doom for that particular EC Chair!!
Based on the foregoing, it is clear that, elections are actually won and lost at the polling stations. The political parties/candidates should make the payment of the allowances of the polling station agents dependent on the submission of the declaration of poll sheets to the constituency collation centre agents immediately after the declaration of results at the polling station.
It is incumbent on any political party/candidate desirous of winning the 2016 Presidential/Parliamentary elections to source resource persons to train their polling agents to enable the agents know their duties and responsibilities during and after the elections.
For example, instead of each polling agent taking the declaration of poll sheet individually to the constituency collation centre, a ‘super-agent’ can be appointed for each zone to assemble the declaration of poll sheets from all the polling agents in the zone and deliver them on a motorbike to the constituency collation centre. This is not ‘Rocket Science’! The Nalerigu/Gambaga Constituency in the Northern Region for instance, has five (5) Zones, thus, Gambaga, Nalerigu, Sakogu, Gbintiri and Langbinsi.
A ‘super-agent’ can be appointed for each zone to assemble all the declaration of poll sheets from the polling agents and deliver them to the constituency collation centre in the constituency. This will put an end to from some EC officials telling some political parties/candidates “to go to court if they are not happy with the results declared”. Statements like this appear on the surface to be arrogant on the part of the EC officials, but the EC has a mandate to declare election results within a specified period of time in the absence of proved irregularities and NOT perceived irregularities. In the absence of the declaration of poll sheets from the polling agents at the constituency collation centre, any irregularity complained of, is perceived, and that is not a bar from declaring the results.
One way by which elections can be skewed at the polling station to favour a particular party/candidate, is via the swapping of ballot boxes. This can be eliminated by not extending the voting day. The Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC), should come into an agreement with the EC not to extend the voting day like what pertained in the 2012 general elections. Even if at the close of polls on 7th December 2016, and only one person has voted in the whole of Ghana that should suffice. Under no circumstances should voting continue the next day!
Put the systems in place before the elections, and whether win or lose, the results will happily be accepted by all and sundry. Any political party/candidate failing to get its/his house in order, is digging its/his own grave and should therefore not jump from one radio/television station to another after the elections crying wolf, when in actual fact, it/he failed from the outset to follow basic rules and procedures which are geared towards its/his own benefit.