The Centre for Performance Tracking and Outcome Mappings, a project management think-tank has called on the Electoral Commission(EC) to build capacity of its election officers to avoid needless legal issues after elections.
According to the organization, which observed the 2020 elections, although the election was conducted in a transparent, credible, and fair manner, there were instances of infractions committed by some of the temporary staff of the EC as reported by its field officers.
Key amongst such incidents was the tearing of Candidate Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s photo from the ballot paper by EC officials, making it a spoilt ballot.
Presenting the preliminary report on the 2020 elections in Accra on Monday, January 4th 2021, the Director of Programmes at CePTOM, Mr Joe Ato Bonful said CePTOM’s findings indicates that nearly all the EC officials at polling stations were temporary staff.
The independence, integrity, knowledge and abilities of these staff he said are not well known and the few cases of serious infractions including the tearing of candidate’s pictures on ballots were perpetrated by individuals, adding that they were not systematic ploys by any party.
He recalled that the 2012 Election Petition led the Supreme Court of Ghana to state firmly and unequivocally that elections in Ghana are won and lost at the Polling Station, saying that this makes the polling station sacrosanct and key in all elections in Ghana.
“Indeed, amongst the rulings by the Supreme Court was the specific ruling that the outcomes of both Presidential and Parliamentary polls should be prominently posted at each Polling Station to ensure that everyone has this key information and also to prevent this figure from being changed at any collation centre,” he said.
Mr Ato Bonful added that, “This means that EC officials, whether temporary or permanent hold the most critical position towards the eventual winner of all elections. To this end, the recruitment, training, posting and management of temporary and permanent EC officials at Polling Stations is crucial to the outcomes of every election.”
He suggested that EC ensures that election staff are recruited based on a certain level of education and ensure they are knowledgeable enough for the job.
He also urged EC to consider recruiting more staff who will run shifts on election days to prevent them from going to polling centres very early in the morning and closing very late at collation centres.
Such situations, he noted makes the officers ineffective especially at collation centres since they could be already exhausted.
Mr Ato Bonful recommended that, “The independence of the Electoral Commission should be respected at all times by all stakeholders and boundary partners. Also, the independence of the EC and other constitutionally mandated bodies e.g., the NCCE, CHIRAJ should be respected. The NCCE and CHRAJ should be WELL funded”
He again noticed that tensions begun to mount when the EC failed to stick to its announced timelines of declaring the outcome of the Presidential Elections within 24 hours of ballots closing i.e., by 5pm on 8th December 2020.
He noted that the initial timeline was postponed without a clear time for the declaration thereby fuelling anxiety amongst all stakeholders and boundary partners.
EC’s failure to deliver on its timeline, Mr Ato Bonful said also triggered the litany of press conferences and projections by some political parties, the media and some civil society organisations on both social and mainstream media and created serious apprehension among the populace.
He therefore advised the EC to consider all exigencies including acts of God and undertaking scenario planning prior to fixing the dates to declare election results.
“Ghana has an Executive President. This makes the stakes very high in relation to who is declared President. Thus, in taking the decision to declare the Presidential results, the Electoral Commission is duty bound to consider all exigencies including acts of God and undertaking scenario planning prior to fixing the dates. The law requires the Electoral Commission to declare the outcomes of the Presidential Election within 72 hours. It is commendable to do this earlier than 72 hours. However, any shorter timeline given should be realistic and should be adhered to,” he added.
He also advised political parties to ensure they invest in party agents so that they operate in their full potentials.
“When you invest in the right person you will get what you want. But if you don’t put the right person there you will not get your desired results,” he added.
Ghana| Atinkaonline.com| Porcia Oforiwaa Ofori