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COFFTRE TO HOLD VIGIL IN PURSUIT OF A RESPONSIBLE ELECTORAL COMMISSION

The Coalition For Free, Fair and Transparent Elections is inviting members of the general public to a vigil to be held at Nyamekye Junction near Abeka Lapaz at 6.00 pm on Saturday 9th January to 6.00 am on Sunday January 10th.

The purpose of the vigil is to press on the Electoral Commission of Ghana to initiate electoral reforms and to allow transparency in its operations.

With the world having entered into the year 2016, Ghanaians have less than twelve months to go into a most crucial election.

The last round of presidential and parliamentary elections held in 2012 came to a conclusion with widely disputed results. An attempt to resolve the matter at the judicial level led to what has come to be described as a farce of a judicial proceeding, which eventually ended with over-voting by one Supreme Court judge. He managed to vote on two sides on one question.

One of the recommendations that came out of the Supreme Court, following the election petition hearing, was that there was a need for electoral reforms. To date, the EC has not shown any real commitment to introduce the suggested reforms. Again, there have been no judicial reforms to streamline procedures by which future electoral disputes would be resolved.

The manner by which the last presidential election petition was handled has led to one popular refrain, which is ‘nobody would go to court after 2016’. If nobody is prepared to hazard an expensive and probably wasteful trip before the courts, then electoral reforms were key; yet they have not happened.

Again, the work of Ghana’s Electoral Commission is clouded in secrecy and a total lack of accountability.

It is why we are calling on Ghanaians to join us in their numbers come January 9th to pray all night to turn the hearts of stones at the EC to see the light of day.

The time is 6.00 pm at Nyamekye Junction, near Lapaz, Accra. Be there in your numbers!