"Let’s commend ourselves for the success of December polls” - Afari-Gyan

Ghanaians must commend themselves for the success of the 2012 elections, Dr Kwadwo Afari-Gyan, Chairman of the Electoral Commission of Ghana (EC), has said in Ho on Friday.

He was addressing the 2012 elections review meeting.

Dr Afari Gyan said Ghana was the only country to have successfully applied biometric verification in the conduct of general elections in the world for which the country must be proud.

The review conducted on the theme, “enhancing the credibility of the 2012 elections” was for the EC to get feedback from its stakeholders.

It was sponsored by DFID and facilitated by KAB Governance Consult.

Dr Afari-Gyan said “election is a big task” so organizing successful elections called for some commendation.

He said few months after the December elections, some countries approached the EC for support towards their elections, an indication that, “Ghana has something to celebrate.”

He said though there was no perfect electoral system anywhere in the world, Ghana was gradually becoming a very good example for countries across the World.

Dr Afari-Gyan said the EC’s main challenge in the last election was its temporary staff, some of whom had very “strong political affiliations.”

He however assured that the Commission was taking steps to address those challenges and called for support from all.

Madam Laurentia Kpatakpa, Volta Regional Director EC, said though the December elections were “quiet and peaceful” in the Region, some polling agents posed problems to the election officials.

She called for closer collaboration between stakeholders to enhance the credibility of future elections.

During an open forum, Mr Eric Ofori commended the EC for making special provision for the disabled and urged the Commission to make polling stations easily accessible to electorates in future elections.

Source: GNA