The Director of Elections for the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) has slammed the Electoral Commissioner, Mrs. Charlotte Osei over some comments she made in an interview she granted the BBC yesterday [Thursday November 3, 2016].
The NPP leader was wondering why the Commissioner make it seem that all was well regarding the processes leading to the general elections when in actual fact, the processes leading to the December 7 exercise is not credible.
Speaking in an interview with Kwame Tutu on Rainbow Radio 87.5Fm, Mr. Korsah maintained that, it was the hope of all stakeholders that the electoral processes would be smooth, transparent and most importantly inclusive. Yet the posturing of the EC he added, makes it difficult for stakeholders to trust the process.
Mrs. Charlotte Osei in the interview yesterday assured electorates that the election will be held on December 7 despite the legal battles.
The EC boss expressed strong optimism that the court cases would not affect the polls.
On the December 7, date, she said “We will not allow law suits to subvert the process and so we are going to get a definitive ruling from the Supreme Court likely this week; at the latest, early next week, but in the meantime, we have started the process of printing the parliamentary ballot papers to make up some of the time and so we are in a good place to meet the December 7 date”.
However, Mr. Korsah has raised serious concerns over the comments passed by the EC boss.
He questioned if the EC was going to side step some of the processes leading to the general election because it has failed to meet its own timelines.
The EC he explained, set October 26 for the printing and transportation of ballot papers but, as ”I speak to you today, the EC has failed to meet that timeline.”
‘’Clearly the EC has beat its own timeline. Remember also that we are supposed to hold a special voting on December 1, 2016. I feel there is a course for concern. It is enough to go and sit in London and say everything is on course and the election will come on. It will come on how? Are we going to side step some of the processes? Are we going to rush the electoral process through, to create a problem? We in the NPP will not entertain any such things. Mr. Martin Adjei Mensah-Korsah explained that the notice of polls printed by the EC was not a true reflection of the colours and identity of the NPP.’’
‘’if we should be firm as a party, we have to reject it. And indeed we are rejecting it. We will expect that this mistake will be the one on the ballot paper…If the EC is making mistakes at this time, what then should we expect on election day?’’
He admonished the EC to step up in ensuring that the right things are done, adding ”We don’t expect itches in the upcoming elections but that will depend on the preparations by the EC…I personally feel the EC should step up its game. Sitting on radio and assuring that all is okay doesn’t mean is okay, because all is not well Madam Chairperson.”
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