Dr. Edward Omane Boamah, the Director of Elections and IT for the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) is mounting pressure on the Electoral Commission (EC) to release its 2024 calendar to aid the various stakeholders in planning for the December 7 elections.
In an open letter addressed to Mrs Jean Mensah, chairperson of the Commission, and shared on social media platforms on Friday, March 1, 2024, Dr Boamah urged the Commission to publish this year’s calendar as soon as possible.
He underscored the importance of this year’s calendar, especially since it is an election year, and stated that political parties and other stakeholders require it for effective preparation.
“In this open letter, I deploy definite statements and questions to draw the attention of Ghanaians, the Electoral Commission itself, the Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) and all stakeholders, including development partners to the immutable truth that, the EC is behind schedule regarding preparations towards elections 2024.”
Dr. Omane Boamah expressed dismay in the letter, stating that with less than nine months until the general elections, the lack of the EC’s calendar is troubling.
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“I wish to remind the Electoral Commission that the calendar of activities to guide the December 07 presidential and parliamentary elections this year is still not available to political parties and major stakeholders.”
Dr Boamah contended that despite several assurances from the EC that it would unveil its electoral calendar for 2024 before the end of February 2024, “no such calendar has been released as of the end of February.”
Dr. Bossman Asare, the Deputy Chair of the Commission, also reiterated these assurances when he appeared before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Wednesday, February 21.
However, despite expectations, the month of February ended without the release of the calendar.
Read the full letter below:
Dear Jean Mensa, EC has a lot of work to do
Happy new month (March 2024)!
And special greetings from the NDC Elections and IT Directorate.
In this open letter, I deploy definite statements and questions to draw the attention of Ghanaians, the Electoral Commission itself, the Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) and all stakeholders, including development partners to the immutable truth that, the EC is behind schedule regarding preparations towards elections 2024.
I wish to remind the Electoral Commission that the calendar of activities to guide the December 07 presidential and parliamentary elections this year is still not available to political parties and major stakeholders.
Quite disappointing!
Why has the EC not published the calendar of activities (Timetable) to guide our programmes?
Note that there are many issues to be addressed ahead of the December 07 elections, such as:
- Addressing major discrepancies in the Voters’ Register.
- When the Commission intends to conduct the Limited Voters Registration Exercise to register new voters.
- The projected (nationally & regionally) registrable voter population for the 2024 Limited Registration Exercise.
- How the Limited Voters Registration Exercise will be conducted – Is it going to be electoral area-based or district office-based as it happened in 2023? (District office-based registration should not be repeated as it leads to voter suppression).
- What is the state of the EC’s Data Center and Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) kits and Biometric Verification Devices (BVDs)? Are we going to experience the avoidable and frequent breakdown of the devices as occurred during the 2023 Limited registration exercise?
- Does the EC intend to procure additional BVR Kits and BVDs?
- Does the Commission intend to introduce new laws (Constitutional Instruments) or administrative and other operational reforms for Election 2024?
- If yes, what are those laws and reforms?
- How does the Electoral Commission intend to comply with the ECOWAS Protocol on Good Governance and Democracy, that directs Election Management Bodies (EMBs) of ECOWAS Member States not to introduce major laws or reforms six (6) months prior to General Elections… Today is March 2024, with eight (clear months to December 2024.)
Madam Jean Mensah, Chairperson of the Electoral Commission of Ghana, in this friendly conversation in the interest of Ghana’s democracy, I further wish to advise the Electoral Commission as follows:
- The Commission must not make the Ghana card the sole identifier for voter registration in 2024 because well over 60% of registrants used the Guarantor System to register just a year ago in 2023. This shows that Ghanacard and passports are still not available to many a Ghanaians.
Finally, let me ask:
- Will the Commission create additional polling stations for Election 2024?
- If yes, how many polling stations does the Commission intend to create, and what is the operational and demographic basis for creating those additional polling stations?
Furthermore, is the Commission genuinely committed to the people of Santrokofi, Akpalu, Likpe and Lolobi (SALL) voting on December 07, 2024 as a Constituency? This cannot be compromised!
Time is limited…
Therefore, the Electoral Commission must immediately sit up and release the calendar of activities (Timetable) to guide the December 07, 2024 elections.
Thank you.