I Don�t Care Even If Afari Gyan Is An NDC Activist � John Boadu

Dr Kwadwo Afari Gyan, Chairman of the Electoral Commission (EC), after the 2012 Presidential and Parliamentary elections, came under strong criticisms for allegedly organizing an election with massive irregularities which included over voting and voting without Biometric verification. And not even the Electoral Commissioner�s declaration of John Dramani Mahama (now President) as winner of the elections, could calm the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), who continued to believe otherwise. They thus filed a petition at the Supreme Court contesting the legitimacy of the polls. A protracted legal battle then ensued and after 8 long months in court, Justice William Atuguba, head of the nine Justices of the Supreme Court who presided over the case, declared President Mahama as legally elected. One year down the line, National Organiser of the opposition party believes the most essential thing for the country to do is �strengthen systems on the ground�. To him, it is of no consequence if the referee, Dr Afari Gyan, helped to retain the NDC in power or he is an NDC sympathizer. �The most important thing is strengthening our systems on ground,� he stressed. He held the view that had polling agents at the various polling stations during the 2012 election had been vigilant, no one would have attempted rigging the election. �Even if Dr Afari Gyan is an NDC member; I don�t care. I don�t even care if he had decided to help the NDC. The results will come from the polling station and so the polling agents are my major concern and they are those I should care about. If we don�t strengthen our polling station arrangement as well as ensure that the results at the polling stations are the same results taken to the collation centres, nothing else can be done. We have to find a way of strengthening our system�� he said during a panel discussion on PeaceFM�s �Kokrokoo�.