The Akufo-Addo government has wondered why former President John Mahama keeps “bastardising” the Jean Mensa-led Electoral Commission with aspersions that cast doubt on the credibility and neutrality of the election management body since it got a new boss.
Responding to the main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) flag bearer’s demand for explanations about the hacking of the EC system during the 2016 general elections, Mr Oppong Nkrumah wondered why Mr Mahama never made such a request when Mrs Mensa’s immediate predecessor, Mrs Charlotte Osei, was in office.
“On the former president’s call, it’s a bit interesting that that call never came through until there was a new EC Chair”, Mr Oppong Nkrumah told journalists on Monday, 20 May 2019, adding: “It’s just an interesting point that during the tenure of the former EC Chair, we never heard him [Mr Mahama] make this request: that details of their system being hacked, etc., should be put out there”.
Earlier this month, Mr Mahama demanded answers from the EC concerning the alleged hacking into the election management body’s IT system which prompted a halt of the electronic transmission of results in the 2016 election.
Mr Mahama said he believed a full probe into the hacking was needed to enable the EC implement counter-measures to prevent similar occurrences in the future as the 2020 general elections approach.
“During the last Presidential Election in Ghana, the Electoral Commission directed its staff to stop using the electronic result transmission system to communicate results to the tallying centre because the system had been compromised.
“The results had to, therefore, be tallied manually, leading to attendant tensions in the delay of the announcement of the final results.
“As I speak, I am not aware that the Electoral Commission has carried out any investigation into what compromised their IT system. And even if they have, we, the stakeholders, the political parties, have not been briefed on what caused the corruption of the system.
“In the interest of transparency, it is important for Ghanaians to understand what happened before we go into another election,” Mahama said on Friday, 10 May 2019 at the Distinguished Speaker Seminar at the Saïd Business School, Oxford University, UK.
Additionally, Mr Mahama recently told Accra-based Citi FM in an interview that the posturing of the EC Chairperson does not indicate that she will be neutral in the 2020 polls.
In his view, Mrs Mensa has acted in ways that suggest that representatives of the political parties are a disturbance to the elections management body, a situation he said was unfortunate.
“They need to prove us wrong. We have our doubts that they can be neutral and fair … The current posture and the way they are conducting things makes us doubt that they will be neutral and fair in 2020,” Mr Mahama said in an interview aired on 20 May 2019.
He added: “The EC is not a secret society. It is not somebody’s private closet that needs to be shut, and, [we], not know what is going on there… They should open all the process.
“When the EC starts behaving like the representatives of political parties are a nuisance … then this affects the trust and confidence the people have in the EC – a neutral arbiter.”
Touching on the chair of the Commission, Mr Mahama said: “Her posture doesn’t give confidence that she is going to be neutral in this matter,” he stated.
In Mr Ooppong Nkrumah’s view, however, “I think over the years, Ghana’s Electoral Commission has often come under attack by opposition parties but has proven itself, very often, up to the task”, adding: “If anybody, at any point in time feels that he has a substantive matter against the EC or its processes, it’s also been demonstrated that there are courts in the country that have the ability to listen to whatever claims anybody may have, examine whatever evidence anybody may have and deal with it”.
“But this attempt to bastardise the EC ahead of the election, I think, should be discouraged, and parties should endeavour to play by the rules that the EC is laying out, and if parties feel that those rules are inaccurate or those rules put them at a disadvantage, there are appropriate quarters to channel those ones”, Mr Oppong Nkrumah asserted.
Source: classfmonline.com
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I wished the Former Presidents from the NDC would take a cue from Ex-President JA Kufour to learn how to behave like a Statesman. Then, as a Former President, your office makes you automatically a Statesman and therefore your actions must be guided by pretty lofty decorum beyond Party politics. The unqualified attack on the EC is ssilly and uncalled for especially when it is coming from a Former President out of frustration and lack of ability to engage in intellectual and issue-based discourse.
Small boy with big nose
When Mahama's sweetheart Charlotte Osei was running the show, he liked it, loved it and happy with the EC. Now it is not his sweetheart so he has no confidence in the same EC? Mahama's time at the presidency is a huge mistake.
What has changed, this is a man who used to defend the EC strongly when his girl friend was running the show and he could not even complain about hacking. Why is he complaining now? Is he doing Ofosu Ampofo's bidding?
John Ford Mahama is a confused conman..... You can ask the current Energy minister. Ofosu Ampofo tape directives in full operation.
Where is Ofosu Ampofo? His game plan has started playing in full force. On his said tape, he admonished the NDC supporters and sympathisers to go after the EC chairperson, Jean Mensah. Nr. Maham has started it so that the followers of the party can continue. We have seen through the game plan, but trust me, John Ford Kanazoe Mahama, the presidency is not yours to take. Be assured that you will lose. Keep on talking without giving policy directions and any messages of hope to Ghanaians and your loss in 2020 will be concretised after December 7, 2020.
THERE IS A COMMON SAYING THAT THOSE WHO LOVE TO EAT GOAT MEAT NEVER WANT THEIR GOATS TO DIE. WHEN OPPONG NKRUMAH'S PARTY WAS IN OPPOSITION THEY OVER BASTARDISED CHARLOTTE OSEI AND EVEN TOLD GHANA THEY WILL SACK IF THEY WORN THE 2016 GENERAL ELECTIONS. THIS THEY ACHIEVED AND DID. NOW WHEN IT IS TIME FOR THE NDC TO WEAR THE SAME SHOES THEY HAD LEFT BEHIND THEY FIND IT STRANGE THAT SOMEBODY ELSE IS TRYING HARD TO WEAR THEIR ABANDONED SHOE WHICH WAS ONCE THEIR BEST EVER SHOE. THIS WORLD IS STRANGE. HOW YOU BUILD YOUR BED SO MUST YOU LIE IN IT.
This exactly why John Mahama is doubting the EC. KOJO OPPONG NKRUMAH is now the new EC spokesperson. They have moved Dzapaksu who is the original spokesperson to somewhere in the volta region and indirectly given his job to kojo oppong nkrumah. What is your beef? The EC can defend themselves. Leave them to do their job. No wonder you are aging so fast because the lies are becoming your hobby. You are now worse than professor of lies, mustapha hamid himself.
In 2020 we will see the real MR. INCOMPETENT! Charlotte Osei got berated by people - men and women - who were UNFIT to even lace her shoes! Where was this tepid minister!?
Is that why Mahama is alleged to have brought the Russians to HACK the 2020 elections? 'A loser's cry'! Mr. INCOMPETENT ONE'!