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“I am not a judge but if I were the judge who presided over this case, I will lock you up and ask the prison wardens to throw the key into the sea,” opined the Editor-In-Chief of the New Crusading Guide newspaper, Abdul Malik Kweku Baako.

The astute journalist was sharing his thoughts on what should be done to the Electoral Commission (EC) for the huge financial crisis it has imposed on the state. 

Despite reportedly spending an amount of ¢317 million on the botched district assembly elections, the EC says it still needs another GH¢90 million to organise fresh elections after the Supreme Court declared as unconstitutional the district assembly elections which was supposed to have been organised on March 3, 2015.

Chairman of the Electoral Commission, Dr Kwadwo Afari Gyan made these revelations during a closed door meeting with Members of Parliament on Tuesday. The EC came under a barrage of criticisms when the Supreme Court put the intended district level elections on ice.

A seven-member panel of the court, presided over by Mr Justice William Atuguba, ruled by a unanimous decision, that the EC should start afresh procedure for the District level election. This decision led to the suspension of the elections.

Following the ruling, Dr Afari Gyan was summoned by Parliament to explain the circumstances leading to the SC ruling.

On Tuesday, 10th March, 2015, he appeared in the House and indicated that out of the GHC327 million budgeted for the election, GHC317 million was used for the botched election.

He subsequently rendered an unqualified apology to Ghanaians for events leading to the cancellation of the elections, adding he was ill-advised.

Kweku Baako, contributing to a panel discussion on PEACE FM's morning show ‘Kokrokoo’, described the entire saga as a ‘disaster’.

According to him, it is bad timing for the EC to cause such huge financial loss to the state bearing in mind the fact that the country is experiencing serious economic challenges.

“…total effect: it is not a good thing because of the current economic crisis. That is what makes this whole thing unpardonable,” he said.

Kweku Baako said he does not understand why Afari Gyan acted with impunity even though the warning signs were ‘written all over the wall’.

“There were earlier alerts from people like O.B Amoah, Osei Kyei-Mensah and so on. There was sufficient notice to him concerning the path he was taking…it is so unnecessary and avoidable. He is about to retire and so you would have thought that he would have retired with dignity; but this is so bad….intransigent, impunity all put together. The judgment is clear; this is a disaster. He has caused the nation a lot. I don’t know how he fails but it shouldn’t have come to this. This is a low point; it is low that it can take away all the positives,” he said regrettably.