Pressure group, Citizens Alliance for Credible Elections (CACE) have petitioned Parliament to set up a bipartisan committee to investigate last year's referenda for the creation of 6 regions
CACE in a its statement has described the December 27 exercise as "a complete sham and a clear mockery of our electoral experience and integrity," urging other stakeholders to condemned it.
"We are accordingly appealing to you to set up a bipartisan committee to investigate it," the statement read.
The Electoral Commission on the 27th of December, 2018 conducted a referendum for the creation of 6 regions in addition to the ten existing ten from which there were allegations of malpractices.
A viral video showed multiple voting by Electoral Commission officials and others obviously recruited for the purpose.
At least two separate videos alleging malpractices at two separate areas in the referendum was shared on social media and persons suspected to be election officers were also seen engaging in the act.
In one of the videos, a person suspected to be an EC official is seen thumb printing several ballot papers whilst sitting down at a place said to be a polling station.
The opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has already condemned what it describes as a "brazen violation of electoral laws and lack of principle of fairness in the exercise.
The CACE say their analysis of the videos paints a gloomy picture on Ghana's elections in future .
"...there is growing loss of confidence in the current Leadership of the Electoral Commission and their ability to organize credible, impartial, free and fair elections," it added.
Read full statement below
9th January, 2019
For Immediate Release
To:
The Rt. Hon Speaker,
Parliament of Ghana,
Parliament House,
Accra-Ghana
Rt. Hon Speaker,
SET UP A BIPARTISAN/INDEPENDENT COMMITTEE TO INVESTIGATE ELECTORAL MALPRACTICES IN THE JUST ENDED REFERENDA:
We, Citizens Alliance for Credible Elections (CACE) have taken the pains to analyse and reflect over the just ended referenda held on Thursday December 27, 2018 as a pre-requisite for the creation of new regions and have come to the firm conclusion that it was a complete sham and a clear mockery of our electoral experience and integrity.
We are accordingly appealing to you to set up a bipartisan committee to investigate it. That notwithstanding, we wish to also appeal to all the relevant stakeholders including: IPAC, IDEG, CDD, MEDIA, CODEO and donor agencies to show better commitment to the protection of our fledgling democracy, the peace and stability in Ghana by calling for the most appropriate actions to be taken to salvage the credibility of our electoral democracy. Ghana risks being thrown into a civil upheaval in the next election if this charade is accepted as a standard to be copied or replicated in some future elections in Ghana.
Let it be made abundantly clear that, CACE is never against the creation of new regions. We see ourselves duty bound to ensure a fair electoral system that is legitimate and reflect the real democracy that we've experienced. Judging from the pictures, videos and other information that have gone viral on social media purported to have come out of the referenda, the contents are extremely disturbing to the extent that, there is growing loss of confidence in the current Leadership of the Electoral Commission and their ability to organize credible, impartial, free and fair elections.
Our own analysis of some of the videos that have gone viral is extremely worrying. We cannot gloss over allegations of such magnitude:
- Instances of multiple voting were seen in videos;
- Voting without biometric verification;
- Numerous suspected cases of minors voting;
- Videos showing EC officials participating in the voting;
- Video evidence of EC officials voting serially (multiple voting);
- Photo evidence of NPP party officials employed as EC officials to conduct the voting;
- Photo evidence of a known YES campaigner employed as an EC official to conduct the voting.
MEDIA
We are disappointed that for some strange reasons, the media have not demonstrated the interest expected of them. Even when they were prevented from the observation process, they still appeared comfortable with the situation. We will like to remind them (media) that, they are the fourth estate of the realm and must remain the voice of the voiceless.
CENTER FOR DEMOCRATIC DEVELOPMENT (CDD-Ghana)
CDD doesn’t appear to be living up to its name “Democratic Development”. Their loud silence in times like this will never Develop our Democracy. CDD should show that it is still alive.
INSTITUTE OF DEMOCRATIC GOVERNANCE (IDEG)
We are equally appalled by the cold feet of IDEG towards matters of this grave nature that could endanger the peace of our dear nation. As an entrenched stakeholder in our electoral and democratic system, we expected them to exercise their mandate of representing the masses especially the hapless. However, this doesn't seem to be the case.
COALITION OF DOMESTIC ELECTION OBSERVERS (CODEO)
CACE wishes to commend CODEO for its usual role in election observation over the years in Ghana. We thank them for the work done so far but we disagree with them on their recommendations. The domestic election observers have acknowledged the aforementioned social media viral videos and also proceeded to provide its own instances of alleged electoral offences some of which are even more worrisome. They (CODEO) have thus drawn the conclusion that, “…….the Electoral Commission (EC) to urgently LOOK into the extremely high incidence of manual verification at the various polling stations where such developments took place, and the extremely high voter turn-out figures in some polling stations. This investigation must be done swiftly and the outcomes communicated to the public to promote electoral transparency and integrity……” We (CACE) vehemently disagree with the posture, conclusion and recommendations of CODEO. The issues they catalogued are clear infringements of our electoral laws perpetrated by staff of the EC. It is meek, lame and will be a travesty of justice to ask the EC to investigate itself. This attitude can only promote impunity and endanger our peace. We are disappointed that CODEO isn’t interested in a credible and independent body to probe the referenda, but is rather calling on EC to “….LOOK into…..” It is our view that the election was a complete sham and should not be allowed to go down in history as an election that was ever accepted by the good people of Ghana. The Electoral Commission of Ghana must not be allowed to be a judge in its own court. Where is your sense of fairness, CODEO? The electoral malpractices possibly occurred because all the major political parties had an interest in the creation of the new regions and for that matter there was no credible body representing the interest of those who thought otherwise. We must not sacrifice the credentials in our electoral democracy at the altar of some unholy bipartisan compromises We risk plunging this country into anarchy if the just ended referenda are accepted as good practice that possibly can be replicated in future elections. It is unfortunate that the President of the Republic, even in the mist of the controversies issued a statement already congratulating the Electoral Commission for the conduct of the election. Such a conduct is in bad faith as it seeks to prejudice any possible actions being contemplated against the outcome of the polls. We urge Parliament as an independent institution under the leadership of the Rt Hon Speaker to show courage and strength by setting up an independent body to investigate all the allegations so as to re-assure the ordinary citizen that, Ghana is serious about its democracy.
DEMANDS:
We demand:
- An independent/bipartisan committee to be set up to probe all the allegations of electoral offenses.
- The said committee must be set up within one month of this petition.
- Failing to meet our demands will leave us with no choice than to seek other legal options.
Please find attached videos, pictorial evidence and other relevant documents for your perusal.
Yours faithfully,
Charles Grey
(CONVENOR) 0244060749
Cc:
Leadership of Parliament
All Media Houses
CODEO
National Peace Council of Ghana
The Electoral Commission of Ghana
USAID
Peace Corps
European Union
UKAID
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