Mr John Mahama and the EC boss Jean Mensa at a meeting
• Former President Mahama has shot down assertions by Jean Mensa touting the 2020 elections as well organized
• Jean Mensa addressing the ECOWAS Parliament recently described the 2020 elections as historic
• But contrary to her position, Mr Mahama says the election was marred by unprecedented irregularities
The 2020 presidential candidate of the opposition National Democratic Congress, John Dramani Mahama, has described the recent general elections as the worst organized in the history of Ghana.
According to him, the 2020 elections recorded irregularities on a scale never experienced in Ghana before.
His comments come after the Chairperson of Ghana’s Electoral Commission, Jean Adukwei Mensa speaking to an ECOWAS Parliament session held at Winneba on Wednesday, October 13, described the 2020 elections as a “historic” one which has become a model for other democracies in the world.
Reacting to the EC Commissioners comments Mr Mahama said: “2020 was Ghana’s worst election. If I was marking her, I would have given her an F. She is marking her own paper after the examination so she can give herself any mark she likes.”
He added, “Tell me which election in Ghana was ballot papers printed yet one million ballot papers were found elsewhere… We didn’t witness this under Dr Kwadwo Afari-Gyan. She [Jean Mensa] knew there was ballot stuffing.”
Speaking on the election-related violence of the 2020 elections which resulted in the death of some eight persons, Madam Jean Mensa told the ECOWAS Parliament that the EC cannot be blamed for the unfortunate incident.
“Sadly, seven lives were lost and though this did not occur at our polling nor arise as misconduct on our part, one life lost is one too many. We are confident that our security agencies will share their investigations and recommendations for future learnings,” she said.
But, the former President Mahama questioned the circumstance leading to the record of deaths during the elections while insisting that it was wrong for the military to be deployed to polling stations on the election day.
“I have taken part in elections since 1992 as an MP. I haven’t seen a situation where soldiers were holding guns at collation centres. We normally have police, immigration officers etcetera there,” he added. “Eight people have died, which election did we have in Ghana that eight people perished?”