Blame politicians for electoral fraud- EC

STORY: EVANS OSEI BAFFOUR
Chairman of the Electoral Commission, Dr. Kwadwo Afari Gyan, has stated that Ghanaians should blame politicians for the electoral fraud in the country’s past elections.
According to him, “the EC does not supervise political parties to steal results during elections but only ensure free and fair elections in the country”.
Speaking at the annual conference of the West African Parliamentary Press Corps (WAPPC) held in Ghana last Monday, Dr. Afari Gyan added that in order to secure the integrity of “our elections,” his outfit will always ensure it does the right thing to serve the interest of the good people of this country.
He stressed that the electoral woes of Ghana is mainly orchestrated by politicians who adopt all forms of unacceptable means to rig the results of the elections.
The Commissioner stressed that Ghanaians were tasked to maintain vigilance during election periods “to deny these opportunistic politicians from stealing election results,” adding that “vigilance is the main weapon to curtail the electoral irregularities that has characterized Ghana’s elections since 1992.”

Highlighting on the issue of the biometric voting system, Dr. Afari-Gyan maintained that the Electoral Commission currently has no intention of implementing the system and indicated that the Commission is still in talks with the various stakeholders to see what the future holds.

For his part, the Vice-President of the Republic of Ghana, His Excellency John Dramani Mahama, whose speech was read on his behalf by the Communications Minister, Mr. Haruna Iddrisu, urged journalists to be determined and muster courage to expose war-mongers and institutions whose activities are likely to endanger the peace and stability of the nation.

He also expected the media to expose the wanton abuse of the fundamental human rights and freedom of some Ghanaians which have remained veritable threats to the nation’s internal peace and security.

Mr. Mahama further challenged the leadership of all political parties in Ghana to conduct themselves in a manner that will preserve the nation’s peace before, during and after the 2012 general elections.
On his side, the Dean of the Parliamentary Press Corps of Ghana, Mr. Andrew Edwin Arthur, called on his colleagues to ensure professionalism by adhering to the ethics of the job.
Second Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Prof. Michael Ocquaye, encouraged journalists to endeavour to explore areas that would seek to expose irregularities in the political system of the sub-region.
The conference brought together parliamentary journalists from about four ECOWAS nations, which included Nigeria, Benin, Ivory Coast, and Burkina Faso.