New Constituencies To Wait � EC

Checks by DAILY GUIDE indicate that even if the Electoral Commission (EC) of Ghana succeeds in creating its proposed new constituencies this year, the constituencies would remain dormant until after January 2013 when the current Parliament is dissolved. This puts to rest fears being expressed by opposition parties that the new constituencies might affect their electoral fortunes. Indeed, Clause 6 of Article 47 of the 1992 constitution explicitly states that, �Where the boundaries of a constituency established under this article are altered as a result of a review, the alteration shall come into effect upon the next dissolution of Parliament�. The EC admits that it was behind time in laying the instruments for the creation of the new constituencies before Parliament. According to Kwadwo Sarfo Katanka, a Deputy Chairman of the EC, the commission was summoned on Thursday morning to hasten its pace in bringing the instrument to Parliament for discussion. Mr. Sarfo Katanka made this disclosure in Accra on Thursday during a capacity building programme held for political parties in the country. The EC is currently grappling with heated controversies over its bid to create new constituencies before the 2012 elections, resulting in the EC being dragged to the Supreme Court by prominent lawyer and a former Attorney General, Nii Ayikoi Otoo. Ayikoi Otoo�s writ points to flaws in the EC�s key considerations in creating the new constituencies. He thinks the EC is creating new constituencies arbitrarily without considering the population of the geographical area as prescribed in the 1992 constitution. For instance, the Greater Accra, which has its population at over 4 million, has been allocated constituencies not commensurate with its population, as compared to the number of new districts being proposed for the Northern Region, which has one of the lowest populations, but has a massive landmass. This perceived irregular demarcation by the EC has given room to speculations that the commission is being manipulated by the ruling government to gain electoral advantage over its opposition contenders. Civil society groups have cautioned the EC to back down on its bid to create new constituencies because it had a tendency to disrupt the 2012 elections. The Mills government recently added over 45 new districts which have been widely criticized for favouring the NDC. By the creation of the new districts by the government, the EC was also forced to propose the creation of new electoral constituencies to match the new district assemblies. In spite of the criticisms challenging the legitimacy of the new districts, the EC has stuck to its guns, saying that it is only carrying out its constitutional mandate. According to critics, a careful examination of the relevant provisions would clearly show that the present controversy had arisen from misconceptions presented by the Electoral Commission. Mr. Sarfo Kantanka said that the EC was not bothered by all the litigations aimed at stopping the new creation. In fact, he admitted that the EC would take it in good faith if anybody succeeded in using the legitimate legal procedures to halt its bid for more constituencies.