EC Refutes Mahama’s Allegations, Emphasizes Commitment to Transparency and Fairness

The attention of the Electoral Commission has been drawn to an interview granted by former President John Dramani Mahama at the London School of Economics and Political Science. The Commission takes note in particular of the following comments attributed to the former President:

1. “You as much as possible want to appoint people who are credible, who are respected, who everybody knows would be neutral. But this is a government that has a record of appointing NPP people on to the Electoral Commission.”

2. “We’ve had an electoral commission that has been a model for the whole of Africa because of the innovations that we have introduced at every stage of the way… And because of that, it has created some of the best electoral processes that Africa has.”

3. “Recently there was an announcement of recruitment of returning officers, and the information we have is that ministers and DCEs [District Chief Executives] and others were asked to write the names of party apparatchiki and present them so that they would be appointed as the returning officers. Are these people going to be neutral?”

The Commission responds as follows:

1. Article 43(2) of the Constitution provides that, “The members of the Commission shall be appointed by the President under article 70 of this Constitution.” Former President Mahama during his presidency, exercised his authority under this same provision of the Constitution to make an appointment to the Commission. There were Ghanaians who questioned the neutrality of the person he appointed. There were also Ghanaians who equally accused President Mahama at the time of appointing persons with NDC sympathies to the Commission. What was different then is that other Ghanaian political leaders did not use every opportunity they got to demonise and denigrate the Electoral Commission as a result of their reservations about President Mahama’s appointment to the Commission. He, on the other hand, has never missed an opportunity to denigrate this Commission.

2. When President Mahama refers to innovations introduced to give Ghana one of the best electoral processes in Africa, the former President seems to forget that the history of Ghana’s electoral processes is one that shows improvements in every election cycle. Indeed, for most voters who have had voting experiences under the 4th Republic, the 2020 elections provided the best voting experience, with shorter queues and an even shorter time spent going through the voting process. Additionally, the Commission reduced the cost of election from Thirteen US dollars ($13) to Seven US dollars and Seventy cents ($7.70) perperson and saved the nation a whopping ninety million US$90 million. For the first time in the history of the country, the Election was fully funded by the Government of Ghana. The Commission also succeeded in registering 17 million persons in 38 days in a COVID environment and during a rainy season. No wonder all Observer Groups, including the EU, AU, ECOWAS and numerous Ghanaians lauded the conduct of the 2020 elections as transparent and efficiently run. It is not surprising that the former President of Liberia, H.E. Johnson Sirleaf asked African countries to emulate the exemplary elections of Ghana. Any suggestions that improvements in our electoral processes ended in 2016 are not borne by the facts, and seems part of the continual efforts to discredit the Commission in order to perpetuate the false narrative about the Commission.

3. Per the attached public announcement, the Commission invited ALL interested Ghanaians to apply for the positions of Returning Officers and Deputy Returning Officers. The allegation by former President Mahama that Ministers and DCEs were asked “to write the names of party apparatchiks and present them so that they would be appointed as the returning officers” IS NOT TRUE. The Commission rejects this unfounded allegation coming from the former President.The process of recruiting Returning Officers and their Deputies was conducted in an open, fair and transparent manner. Following the publication of the vacancy announcement in the Daily Graphic on the 5th of February, 2024, the Commission received a total of 20,561 applications. An in-house Committee was established to shortlist suitable applicants to be interviewed. For the information of the general public, all successful applicants at the interview have no less than 8 years working experience with the Commission as Temporal Election Officials,

4. The Commission urges all stakeholders to approach information dissemination and communication in this election year with accuracy and responsibility. As a Commission we reaffirm our commitment to spearheading transparent, credible, and fair elections- upholding the highest standards of integrity as we commit to protecting the sanctity of Ghana’s electoral process.
Thank you.