2020: I’m not responsible for election related deaths- EC Chair

The Chairperson of the Electoral Commission (EC), Mrs Jean Mensa has stated that the Commission is not responsible for any election related deaths that were recorded during the 2020 election.

Speaking to ECOWAS Parliament at Winneba, Mrs Jean Mensa said none of the violent acts that led to deaths occurred at any of the EC’s polling stations.

That notwithstanding, she expressed regret about the seven persons who reportedly lost their lives during the elections.

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According to the EC Chair, the 2020 elections was solely financed by the Government of Ghana, saying that the EC reduced the cost of election by 41% as compared to 2016.

She described the 2020 General election as historic, transparent, efficient, and cost-effective.

The EC Chair said the fact that the comparative cost of the election was reduced by 41% which is equivalent to 90 million dollars and a voter turn-around time of between 10 and 12 minutes makes the election exemplary within the West African sub-region.

“Notwithstanding inflation and price hikes and the fact that we incurred additional costs owing to the COVID-19 protocols we deployed throughout the election, we cut the cost per voter, from 13 dollars per head in 2016 to 7 dollars per head. Through a reduction in cost, we saved the government a formidable sum of $90 million,” she said.

She continued that,“We were met with many challenges, but we surmounted most of them and those we could not overcome, we learned from. Sadly, seven lives were lost, and though these did not occur at our polling stations or arise as a result of misconduct on our part, one life lost is one too many. We are hoping that our security agencies will share their findings and recommendations for future learning”.

Meanwhile, Mrs Jean Mensa also said the recently released census results vindicate the number captured during the compilation of the new voters register.

Ghana| Atinkaonline.com