The General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mr Johnson Asiedu Nketia, has predicted a constitutional crisis for the country if the protracted tension at the Electoral Commission (EC) is not resolved immediately.
According to him, the impasse at the election management body had obstructed the undertaking of crucial decisions and actions that should have been made after the 2016 general election.
Addressing members of the NDC at Aflao in the Ketu South District in the Volta Region, Mr Asiedu Nketia said the issues plaguing the commission must be a major worry to Ghanaians.
“My fear is that we will get so close to the next general election and there will be too many things yet undone, and if we are not careful, we are leading this nation into a constitutional crisis. We have been warned not to speak for fear of being cited for contempt. If there is anything leading us into crisis, I will prefer to talk about it and risk being cited for contempt than keeping quiet.
“Whatever is happening at the EC must happen quickly enough so they can look forward and undertake their activities before Election 2020 because the alternative will be a chaotic election; and Ghanaians are not ready for that. We demand that the results of the 2016 general election be gazetted,” he said.
Expedite resolution
He, therefore, called for quick resolution of the troubles at the EC in order not to create a constitutional crisis in the country.
Mr Nketia indicated that almost two years after the 2016 elections, the commission was yet to meet stakeholders to review the activities of that year and also plan for the next election cycle.
“Our EC has been stampeded into a situation of inactivity, as we speak now, what they need to do to bring the 2016 elections to conclusion; to review what went wrong in 2016 has never happened. And yet we’re moving gradually to the next election, all the preparatory work that ought to have started two years ago have not been done. My fear is that, we’ll get so close to the next election and there will be too many things left undone and I can assure, if we are not careful, we’re moving this country into a constitutional crisis,” he stated.
He also appealed to the National Identification Authority (NIA) to include more means of identity for the Ghana card instead of restricting themselves to passports and birth certificates.
Background
The EC boss Mrs Charlotte Osei, and two of her deputies have been engrossed in public disagreement over how affairs are conducted at the commission.
Both sides have accused each other of incompetence and financial impropriety. A petition sent to the President for the dismissal of the commissioners is being considered by a committee set up by the Chief Justice, as Ghana’s Constitution demands.
Credit: Daily Graphic