To even consider such a compromise option outside the strict legal considerations it will be worth educating readers of this piece of the material weaknesses in Ghana’s electoral system as discussed below. ******************************************** The 2012 election petition at the Supreme Court has enabled all Ghanaians to learn about the material weaknesses in our election administration Specifically, we have a deliberately compartmentalized system which allows fraud to be perpetrated at the polling station, constituency, district and regional collation centers as well as in the strong room without detection. We have procurement practices and procedures which are fraught with bribery and corruption and lack transparency and allow needless duplicate pink sheets to be ordered and introduced at the collation centers. We have a voters’ register which is deliberately bloated through processes and procedures designed to bloat the register through opaque actions including opaque reconciliation exercise which exclude the involvement of stakeholders such as the political parties. We have ballot paper printing, Polling Station Sheets (Pink Sheet) printing and ballot paper accounting and collation sheet printing and distribution procedures which are fraudulent and designed to produce an unfair outcome for incumbency. We have collation exercises which are corrupt and fraudulent. We have manual systems which are designed to ensure fraud occurs. We have deliberately excluded technology in certain parts of the process in order to facilitate manipulation of results, corruption and fraud to the advantage of the incumbent. We lack adequate quality control procedures for all aspects of the election processes which lead to the release of erroneous results, We have untrained staff and staff who are aligned to parties making their judgment corrupt and lacking independence. There is an urgent need for better established control procedures which are agreed upon by all the parties and reviewed by technical control experts and other professionals. Any attempt to re-vote without newly improved and better control procedures will lead to more acrimony and will not augur well for Ghana. It may lead to violence and this charged emotional environment may become uncontrollable and place Ghana in jeopardy because people are fed up with the system of corruption in the country. Below is a listing a few of the concerns which space will not allow me to adequately discuss. * Which Elections? Is it the first round or a run off? * What happens If the same irregularities are observed again during the Revote or Re-Run? * Who Will Administer and Supervise the Election? Afari Gyan and the current EC? * What Time Frame? * Who Votes? * What Voters’ Register? * Is it the bloated register with 6 million bloated voters? * Who pays for the elections? * The cost is prohibitive considering the current economy of Ghana Conclusion We do know we live in dangerous times in Ghana considering the violent tendencies of the ruling party as shown immediately after the last elections, the vitriolic and high octane utterances of threats and intimidation made on the airwaves and the seemingly apathetic leadership to provide a lasting solution. It has fallen onto deaf ears that the judges who will decide to vote to reverse the travesty of the EC will be chastised by the ruling party. Similarly, if they shy away from their constitutional mandate but to pass the buck back to the Ghanaian electorate to ask for re-vote or re run on a compromise basis, they will incur the wrath of the NDC and its aparatricks. With the NDC in power during the temporary period, the well-being of the justices may well be in jeopardy. We know the NDC party is full of “revolutionaries and functionaries” from the PNDC era and they have not renounced their evil, corrupt and violent ways which included the killing of the judges a quarter of a century ago. Yet we strongly hold that these honorable brave men and women of the highest court of the land should stand firm and deliver a just verdict irrespective of their personal affiliations for the sake of mother Ghana. As Kofi Annan is purported to have said the Supreme Court must be fair! Ghanaians are saying the Supreme Court must be bold, courageous, tough and independent and render a verdict which is seen to be just. It is our belief that rejecting re-vote or a re-run will definitely produce a law and order society if the judges show courage, boldness, fairness, independence and apply the laws, elections regulations and procedures to the evidence in court and make a tough, firm and honest judgment in the interest of the country. Since the whole world is watching us, it is not farfetched that these judges by doing the right thing will get international recognition and acclaim and may become international celebrities who might be invited in many countries to speak about their experiences on the Supreme Court of Ghana during the landmark decision. It is not out of the question that a Nobel Peace Price may fall in their laps. Charles Kwaku Amoo-Asante Anti-Corruption and Pro-Growth and Development Activist Connecticut, USA Kotoko2000@gmail
Posted on: Thu, 25 Jul 2013 17:14:21 +0000
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