NCCE criticised for failing in duties

The Legal Advocacy Foundation, a non-governmental organisation promoting public interest in legalities, has expressed disappointment in the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) for failing in its mandate to educate and explain to the general public the verdict of the Supreme Court on the 2012 election petition.

It said it was the civic responsibility of the NCCE to educate the populace on the legalities exercised by the Supreme Court judges, as well as the judgement but lamented the situation where the NCCE had remained in its sheath "since August 29, 2013, the day the verdict was delivered".

The President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the foundation, Lawyer Dr Maurice Kwabena Ampaw, who stated this at a press conference in Kumasi, said, "This is very disappointing and unfortunate. The NCCE has failed in its mandate to explain to the public the nitty gritty of the verdict of the Supreme Court."

On that note, he called on the NCCE, the National Peace Council (NPC), traditional and religious leaders, foreign agencies and civil society organisations that had the nation at heart to support the noble cause of explaining the verdict to the ordinary Ghanaian.

"In order for the masses to be in tune with such legal issues as the court's verdict, it is imperative for relevant agencies to school the public adequately so that pertinent issues could easily be appreciated without much difficulty," Dr Ampaw stated.

He hinted that the foundation would soon file a suit at the law court to challenge the constitutionality of the Supreme Court (SC), the highest court of the land.

According to the foundation, challenging the constitutionality of the court would help clear all doubts and ambiguities in the minds of the ordinary Ghanaian who had amply demonstrated their readiness to be part of a legal exercise and the rule of law.

Dr Ampaw said the challenge was necessitated by the  verdict of the SC on the 2012 presidential election petition.

In the petition hearing, the petitioners – Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia and Mr Jake Otanka Obetsebi Lamptey, all of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), went to the SC to seek annulment of votes and declare the first petitioner, Akufo-Addo, President.

Dr Ampaw said though the powers of the SC were enshrined in the 1992 Constitution, the supremacy of the law emanated from the citizenry (the people) and was implicitly implied as well in the same Constitution, and quoted Article 1 (25) to buttress his point.

To him, the SC could have asked counsel for both the petitioners and the respondents to appear before it for an agreed short period of two weeks to engage the court in a legal argument rather than the eight-month long evidential proceedings coupled with legal addresses.

Source: Daily Graphic

‘Increasing trend of rejected ballots worrying’

The increasing trend of rejected ballot votes, if not checked, could affect the outcome of elections in the country. Out of the six general elections held in the country since 1992, there had been 1,035,905 rejected votes.
This gloomy outlook was revealed at a press conference to unveil the logo of a policy think tank, the Institute of Democracy Education (IDE), Ghana,  in Ho last Friday.

The IDE, which is dedicated to accelerating democratic dispensation  and local governance for national development, has the vision of becoming a leading think-tank in the region and beyond.

Introducing the new logo to the media, Mr Harrison Kofi Belley, the Executive Director of IDE, said, for instance, the figure of 251,720 which constituted 2.29 per cent of the total votes cast in the last general elections was more than the general votes of the other six presidential candidates which was 1.56 per cent, adding that these huge figures could affect the outcome of elections in the country."

To strengthen transparency and integrity of the electoral process, and to promote civic and voter education, he said that focus must be on the trend of rejected ballot votes in general elections which was becoming a third force in the country.

He called for proper civic and voter education to produce a democratic citizenry.

He was of the view that the adoption of a liberal constitution and the conduct of elections did not mean that Ghana was a democracy while we allowed utterances to permeate our actions in the resolution of conflicts.

"We cannot, and should not, content ourselves with the adoption of a liberal constitution and the conduct of elections and conclude that we are now a democracy while we allow intolerance to permeate and control our public and public actions in the resolution of conflicts", he said.

Mr Belley noted that the IDE intended to embark on a project to enhance electoral peace and credibility in the up-coming 2014 district assemblies elections in the country based on lessons drawn from the December 2012 elections.

IDE, he said, would conduct its programmes through seminars and workshops in institutions and communities, with opinion leaders and students in the Volta Region.

The Executive Director stated that they had started running a weekly public education programme at Hope Station on 93.1 FM, a Ho-based radio station, on Tuesdays between 2.00p.m. and 3.00p.m.

Unveiling the logo and name of the IDE, Mr Kofi Tenasu Gbedemah, a civil society activist and Board Chairman of IDE, who stressed on political tolerance, advised the people to co-operate with the various stakeholders in the electoral process for peace to prevail.

He said politicians must avoid provocation or use of offensive language to enhance the political dispensation for national development.

"There is a mounting sense that a culture of intolerance and acrimony seems to be taking root at an alarming rate, adding that, "the politics of insults and personality attacks appear to be pervading our political discourse", Mr Gbedemah said.

He cautioned the people not to take the peace and stability that the country had enjoyed over the years for granted because "irresponsible conduct can undermine the status quo".

The Commanding Officer of the 66th Artillery Regiment, Lt. Col. Seidu Abbass, who spoke on improving relationship between the military and civilians, said it was the avowed interest of everybody to see that the peace in Ghana is not disturbed in anyway.

Lt. Col. Abbass cautioned the youth to eschew violence since all the state institutions were prepared to avert any disturbances or breach of the peace with the security forces on high alert to move in to crush and deal with any disturbances.

" So the youth who have explosive energy should be cautioned to resist the temptation of being lured into any negative acts, for you will have no excuse if you fail to make judicious use of your time", the Commanding Officer of the 66th Artillery Regiment said.

Source: Daily Graphic

PPP fights for E-Voting in 2016

The Progressive People's Party (PPP) has called for the adoption of an electronic voting system in the 2016 general elections to avoid the challenges the nation faced in the December 2012 election.

It said unless something fundamental was done to remove the human interventions in the current process, elections in Ghana would continue to be conducted under questionable circumstances, real or perceived to the detriment of the nation's emerging democracy.

Representatives of the PPP stated the position forcefully at a two-day IEA Post-Election Workshop on the theme "Towards Transparent and Acceptable Elections in Ghana: A Review of Ghana's Electoral System" held at Akosombo in the eastern region over the weekend.

National Secretary of the PPP, Mr Kofi Asamoah-Siaw, argued  that full electronic voting would remove the need for an elaborate pink sheet, reduce the large numbers of  temporary staff recruited by the Electoral Commission (EC); remove the transportation of electoral materials and the unacceptably large numbers of   spoilt ballot which effectively disenfranchise about 251,000 voters in the last election.

He said, e-voting would reduce the cost of maintaining party polling agents, guarantee credible election results and largely reduce the cumbersome nature of our electoral process, emphasising the need for early voter education, the adoption of appropriate and robust technology and the leadership to promote the new process.

Source: Daily Graphic

IEA, Political Parties hold forum on electoral reforms

The Ghana Political Parties Programme (GPPP) under the auspices of the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) has initiated a non-partisan engagement towards electoral reforms in the country.

The IEA-GPPP initiative, following on the heels of the Supreme Court's ruling on the landmark election petition trial, is to provide a platform for constructive review of the current electoral system and offer practical recommendations to serve as inputs for consideration.

Opening the workshop at Akosombo on Saturday, Dr. John Kwakye, IEA Senior Fellow, said the history of Ghana's Fourth Republic showed that no political party can stay in power forever.

"It is therefore imperative that we contribute our quota in dealing with the challenges of our electoral system and to create the peaceful and enabling environment for all of us to thrive whether in government or in opposition," he stated.

Dr Kwakye explained that the Supreme Court verdict had laid bare some challenges of the nation's electoral system which could not be glossed over.

"Whiles we commend our Electoral Commission for its role in election administration since the inception of our Fourth Republic, we are all aware that there are several challenges with our electoral system.

"Indeed, the results of Ghana's 2012 election were challenged on grounds of irregularities, although it is conceded that elections all over the world are fraught with some amount of irregularities", he remarked.

He said the IEA-GPPP initiative was based on consensus by the General Secretaries and National Chairmen of the various political parties.

Dr Kwakye said the Institute was working closely with the EC to ensure that consensus reached would be adopted as the contribution of the IEA-GPPP towards improving the integrity of Ghana's electoral system.

In a paper entitled: "The 2012 Ghana Elections and the calls for electoral reforms," Mr Gabriel Pwamang, a legal practitioner, explained that the overall objective of a democratic electoral process was to ensure that the results of the election would be seen as the free expression of the choice of the electorate.

He said Ghana was striving to maintain its membership of the democratic free world and that there were some internationally recognized benchmarks that were often used to assess countries and the efficiency of their electoral process.

Mr Pwamang noted that even though the disappointment and challenges regarding the 2012 Presidential election were fresh in the minds of the petitioners. "We need to maintain our calm and review our electoral process in a comprehensive manner that takes account of its strengths as well, if we are not to throw the baby away with the bath water.

 

"After all, our elections system has brought us this far and in the immediate past won us great commendations internationally and admiration for our EC officials".

He identified the foundation of the rules and procedures that currently regulate the electoral process as the 1992 Constitution, the Representation of the People Act, 1992 (Act 284) as amended; and the Presidential Elections Act 1992 (Act 285).

Other legislations were the Public Elections (Registration of Voters) Regulations 2012 (CI.72), Public Elections Regulations 2012 (CI. 75) and the Supreme Court (Amendment) Rules 2012 (C.I 74).

Mr Pwamang, a former General Secretary of the PNC, noted that as humans there was always room for improvement and in the case of the EC the concern was that after achieving so much over the years their performance in the last election was not that commendable.

He noted that the last minute creation of districts and constituencies had everything to do with the difficulties, and also the fact that the country was implementing voting with biometric devices for the first time.

"I am confident that if we undertake the needed reforms in the electoral process we can regain our record as a nation with a robust electoral system," he said.

The Akosombo forum was held on the general theme: "Towards transparent and acceptable elections in Ghana: A review of Ghana's electoral system".

It was attended by representatives of the Convention People's Party (CPP), Peoples National Convention (PNC), National Democratic Congress (NDC) and New Patriotic Party (NPP). Others were the Progressive People's Party (PPP), and Great Consolidated Popular Party (GCPP).

Mr David Adeeze-Kangah, former EC Deputy Chairman, chaired the forum.

 Source: GNA

Electoral modalities caused NPP’s defeat not party structure - Political Scientist

A political science professor says there is nothing wrong with the current status quo in the NPP where party officers are elected from the grassroot first before finally electing flagbearer despite a new proposal to do the reverse.

He believes the country's electoral system is the cause of the New Patriotic Party's defeat in the 2012 elections.

His comment comes after a crucial National Executive Council meeting Thursday finally threw out a contentious proposal for an early congress to elect a flagbearer.

The Head of the Political Science Department of the KNUST, Professor Amoako Baah, says the electoral modalities are the cause of the NPP's defeat and not the party's internal structure.

He says most people in the party already believe the party won the December 2012 presidential elections despite being declared losers by the Electoral Commission.

This is why the party went to the Supreme Court for eight months to challenge the declaration of the Electoral Commission in favour of the incumbent John Mahama, he adds.

In view of this widely held position in the NPP, the party's internal structure is okay, he noted.

"If it is not broken and you try to fix it then you are trying to break it, he said.

For weeks the opposition NPP has been buffeted by internal wrangling over a new proposal defended in the media by some national leaders such as the Chairman Jake Obetsibi-Lamptey and the Deputy Minority leader in Parliament Dominic Nutiwul.

They contend choosing a flagbearer first will help "superintend on the choice of the grassroot people and make sure the right people are put there".

A National Executive Council meeting was held last week to scrutinize the proposal. But the meeting witnessed angry party youths spontaneously demonstrating against the proposal at the party head office.

They say an early congress is meant to favour former presidential candidate Nana Akuffo-Addo.

The two-time flagbearer enjoyed a surge in popularity after leading personalities in the country and a number of world leaders praised him for using the court to address his dissatisfaction after losing the 2012 presidential elections

Dissenting voices such as former Minister for Information Stephen Asamoah Boateng also believe if Nana Akuffo-Addo gets elected, it will help the current national executives to also get re-elected and increase their political life span despite failing to get the party into power last December.

But after Thursday's NEC meeting ,the status quo prevails.

Source: myjoyonline

NPP outlines timetable for nationwide elections

The New Patriotic Party has set March 1, 2014 for the elections of party's national executive.

The decision was taken at a National Executive Committee meeting held at its headquarters in Accra on Thursday, a press release signed by the party's Deputy National Secretary Abdulai Fuhlanba has said.

The decision brings to rest the brouhaha surrounding the elections of party executives at the various levels after a proposal suggesting a top-down approach in organizing the elections was shot down by some members of the party.

The other elections would be as follows:

Polling Stations and Electoral Areas Education, Compilation of Polling Station register and validation will be from 11th to 30th October 2013.

Elections at Polling Stations and Electoral Areas start from 1st November 2013 and would be completed on 30th November 2013.

Constituency Elections (nationwide) except Eastern Region is scheduled for 14th December 2013. Elections in the Eastern Region will be on 15th December 2013.

The completion of Constituency Executive Appointees is on 28th December 2013.

Regional Executive Elections have been fixed on 25th January 2014. The completion of Regional Executive Appointees is on 8th February 2014

The Constituency and Regional Albums should be completed on 4th January and 10th February 2014 respectively.

By 28th January 2014 the National Albums, except Regional Executives, would be completed. Regional Executive Albums should be ready by 12th February 2014.

Latest by 15th January 2014 all External Branch Elections should have been completed

The party expects the External Delegates list to be submitted to the Headquarters on 21st January 2014.

Source: myjoyonline

NPP youth rallies support for Alan Kyeremanten

A youth group within the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Brong-Ahafo Region has called on party members to give Mr Alan Kyeremanten the nod to lead the party to victory in the 2016 general election. The group, known as "Operation 2016," said the former Trade and Industry Minister in the President John Agyekum Kufuor administration and a presidential aspirant in 2007 and 2010 stood the chance to lead the party to resounding victory in 2016. Members of the group comprise NPP supporters drawn from the 16 constituencies in the Brong-Ahafo Region and is working to ensure that the NPP regains power in 2016. At a news conference in Sunyani on Friday, the group explained that research conducted by members in the region revealed that though Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo was popular in the party, the voting masses and floating voters preferred Mr Kyeremanten. Mr Ebenezer Anane, Secretary of "Operation 2016," who read a statement signed by Mr Francis Kwaku Barnie, group chairman and former Sunyani East Constituency Chairman of the NPP, said the NPP needed a presidential candidate with charismatic leadership qualities to lead the party in 2016. "Mr Kyeremanten's charismatic leadership style could win voters, especially the floating ones at the grassroots level," he said, adding that it would cause the party another doom if it maintained the 2012 presidential candidate for 2016. Interim executive members of the group include Nana Gyimah, Berekum East Polling Station Chairman, Mr Richard Sarkodie, Asunafo North Eletcoral Area Co-ordinator, Alhaji Wahab, NPP Wenchi first Vice chairman and Stephen Takyi Ntiamoah, Tano North Electoral Area Co-ordinator. Source: GNA