The controversial logo of Ghana’s Electoral Commission (EC) which generated hue and cry in the country after it was unveiled in 2016, has been discarded, and the old one restored with immediate effect. “With effect from today the 4th of December 2018, the original logo of the Electoral Commission which bears the coat of arms and has a ballot box showing the hand casting its vote has been restored,” a memo from the new chair of the EC, Ms. Jean Mensa stated. It has thus directed that the new logo, which it described as “the most recent logo,” is removed from all the buildings and properties of the EC and that the one bearing what it termed “original logo” will be provided. Again, the Commission has directed that all communications from the EC “must from today be made on the letterhead bearing the original logo of the Commission”. Various offices of the EC have been directed to pick up reams of letter heads bearing the old logo from the stores of the Commission. No reasons were given for this latest decision by the Jean Mensa-led Commission to replace the new logo that was spearheaded by the former EC Chair Charlotte Osei as part of the rebranding of the Commission in 2016. But the Commission said its core values, which were listed as integrity, fairness and accountability “have from today also been restored”, a statement that suggests the Charlotte Osei-led Commission never had those values. ‘We liked it, we picked it’ The new logo, which emerged in April 2016, was criticised by Ghanaians, as they wondered why the EC was introducing at an election year. The logo, which comes with blue-black background with what appears to be eight abstract humans with their hands up. Ms. Charlotte Osei unveiled the new logo and a new website for the Commission on April 16, 2016 at an event to launch the EC’s five-year New Strategic Plan.
“That is our new logo. We like it, we picked it, it makes us happy,” Ms. Osei stated in apparent response to critics of the new logo. Controversy The change of the logo at the time generated a lot of controversy with criticism from some political parties, individuals and civil society groups. The NPP criticized the rebranding as a misplaced priority, as it argue the EC was better off focusing its attention and resources on cleaning the 2012 voters’ register. It emerged later that the new logo looks like that of a Turkish educational institution; something that caused a section of Ghanaians to demand an explanation from the designers on whether the logo is original, copied or modified for the EC. Many interpretations were given to the controversial logo with some claiming it is an embodiment of a wheel of fortune and that the colours represent the various political parties. The Commission, however, gave a different interpretation of the new logo. The EC explained that the circles in the logo represents unity, singular and unified in its purpose which it said is “our democracy”, adding the blue of the circle also represents the stability and independence of the Commission. “The inward moving arrows reflect all the people of Ghana and equally coming together for the common purpose- the right to select their political leadership,” the Commission added. The red, gold and green colours, it said, represents Ghana. By 3news.com|Ghana ]]>
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