ONLY EC CAN DECLARE RESULTS — KANTANKA (PAGE 16)

Story: A. Kofoya-Tetteh, Koforidua

THE Deputy Chairman of the Electoral Commission (EC) in charge of Operations, Mr Kwadwo Sarfo Kantanka, has stated that it is only the EC which has the constitutional mandate to declare the results of the elections.
"The EC is the only body allowed by the Constitution to declare the results of the elections and this we will do as a credible referee and come out with results that would be acceptable by all political parties to help maintain peace after the elections", he said.
Mr Sarfo Kantanka, who made the appeal at a round-table discussion held by the EC, leaders of political parties and media practitioners in the Eastern Region in Koforidua last weekend, appealed to leaders of political parties to refrain from declaring the results of this year's parliamentary and presidential elections, since that could plunge the country into chaos.
The event, which was attended by representatives of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), the New Patriotic Party (NPP), the Democratic Freedom Party (DFP) and the People's National Convention (PNC) as well as media practitioners in the region, was to build stakeholders’ confidence in the outcome of this year’s elections.
It was organised by the EC with funding from Friedrich Ebert-Stiftung in collaboration with KAB Governance Consult.
Mr Sarfo Kantanka also appealed to the media not to announce the results of the elections, especially at the constituency level, since that would also heighten tension in such areas.
He said political party agents had to be at the polling stations to witness the collation of the results but appealed to leaders of the various political parties to be patient and allow the EC to perform its constitutional function of declaring the results.
That, he said, would help prevent the country from plunging into anarchy as pertained in countries such as Kenya and Zimbabwe.
Mr Sarfo Kantanka talked about various aspects of the elections and asked any political party with grievances to refer such issues to the EC or the law courts.
The acting Director of Public Affairs at the EC, Mr Christian Parry, cautioned political parties and individuals against preventing others from registering and appealed to the media, non-governmental organisations, the National Commission on Civic Education (NCCE), the security services, as well as the political parties to help to make the elections successful.
The Deputy Chairman in charge of Finance of the EC, Mr David Kangah, gave the assurance that the necessary logistics would be procured to ensure successful elections.
To ensure free and fair elections, he said although the EC had the mechanism to check malpractices, political parties should also keep an eagle eye on each other.
The Eastern Regional Secretary of the NDC, Mr Anthony Gyampoh, wondered why agents of political parties were kept far from polling stations during the previous elections and called on the EC to ensure that they would be at the spot to observe voting. A representative of the PNC, Mr Godwin Tay, called for financial support for political parties with financial problems to enable them to maintain agents at the polling stations during the elections.
Mr Alex Agobo, the Regional Secretary of the NPP, suggested to the EC to acquire the necessary logistics to ensure that adequate ballot papers would be available at all polling stations during the elections.
The Representative of Friedrich Ebert-Stiftung, Mr Ibrahim Tahiru, said his outfit, which had been resourcing political parties to function effectively, would continue to do so to strengthen democracy in the country.
Earlier in his welcoming address, the Eastern Region Director of the EC, Mr Paul Boateng, said 36,000 applicants were catered for during the voter identity cards replacement exercise in the region, despite the challenges they faced.