Chairperson of the Electoral Commission of Ghana, Jean Mensa
The opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has alleged that the Electoral Commission (EC) and the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) has recruited political parties into Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) just to do their bidding.
“But to give all political parties the same voting right as the NPP and the NDC, just because the NPP is in cahoots with the EC and have succeeded in recruiting some mushroom political parties to do their bidding at IPAC is not fair and totally undermines the purpose of IPAC,” the National Communication Officer for NDC, Sammy Gyamfi bemoaned.
At a press conference at the NDC headquarters in Accra, the National Communication Officer said the leadership style of the Electoral Commissioner can best be described as a student and teacher relationship which the NDC is strongly opposed to.
“It is that student relationship we are against; it is that dictatorial posture we are against. Secondary the voting arrangement at IPAC must be equitable first of all and when we talk about equitable, we are talking about that voting arrangement in accordance with the strength of political parties in parliament,” he added.
The Electoral Commission at a two-day workshop which ended on Wednesday, May 19, 2021, conducted an assessment of the 2020 general election, stated its achievement and also made certain electoral reforms.
The NDC after the 2020 General Election sent out a notice that they will boycott IPAC meetings organized by the EC, hence they were not part of the just-ended two-day workshop put together by the EC.
Mr. Gyamfi however touching on the boycott again and said the party is open to amendments that would better enhance the electoral processes in the country.
“The NDC is ever willing to engage in IPAC meetings and engage the EC provided the current modus-operandi of IPAC is reviewed.”