EC Inaugurates Reform Committee

Details

Category: Uncategorised

Created on Saturday, 24 January 2015 00:00

EC Inaugurates Reform Committee

23 January 2015

The Electoral Commission (EC) has inaugurated a 10-member committee to oversee the implementation of electoral reforms ahead of the 2016 general elections.

                                                                                                                           details

The committee, which is chaired by a member of the EC, Georgina Opoku Amankwa, has Peter Mac Manu, New Patriotic Party (NPP); Asiedu Nketia, National Democratic Congress (NDC); James Kwabena Bomfeh, Convention People’s Party (CPP) and Anim Kofi Addo, Yes People’s Party (YPP) as some of the members.

The rest are Christian Owusu Parry (EC); Mrs. Rebecca Kabuki, (EC); Kwesi Jonah, Institute of Democratic Governance (IDEG); Dr. Ransford Gyampoh, Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) and Dr Franklin Oduro, Center for Democratic Development (CDD).

It will be recalled that during the pronouncement of the verdict on the presidential election petition in 2012 by three prominent figures of the New Patriotic Party, the Supreme Court called on the Electoral Commission to undertake electoral reforms.

The petitioners were led by the party’s presidential candidate, Nana Akufo- Addo; his running mate, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, and the then National Chairman, Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey.

Since then, some individuals, organizations and the opposition political parties had been reiterating the need for the reforms before the 2016 general elections. Of major concern to the parties is the bloated voter register which they say should be audited.

Dr. Kwadwo Afari-Gyan chairman of the EC, said at the inauguration that the commission, in response to the calls for electoral reforms, had put together all the proposals and recommendations from the Supreme Court and had compiled them into a publication entitled, “Proposals for Electoral Reforms.”

He said the committee’s work would be to identify the proposals that required changes from the existing laws, rules and regulations and administrative procedures.

The committee, he said,would also indicate which proposals are worthy of adoption and indicate the form in which each change to be adopted is to be incorporated into the electoral system, bearing in mind its compatibility with the remaining aspects of the electoral systems.

Dr. Afari-Gyan said the committee would submit a report to the EC on the findings within three months from the time of its inauguration.

“As the committee goes about its work, the commission expects the members to have an eye on changes that bolster the integrity of the electoral system in various ways, including the independence of the commission and the cost-effective ways to manage elections,” he stated.

Georgina Opoku Amankwa gave the assurance that they would work diligently and come out with reforms that would benefit the whole country.

By Cephas Larbi

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.