Strengthening our electoral system
Arku Jasmine
Editorials
One of our illustrious sons, Mr Kofi Annan, a former Secretary General of the United Nations, has waded into the debate on the country’s electoral system.
Although the reasons for the affirmation of President John Mahama by the Supreme Court last Thursday are yet to be made public, there is a general feeling that our electoral system requires an overhaul to avoid some of the flaws that came up at the petition hearing.
In a statement last weekend, Mr Annan said those reforms would address the flaws that were identified during the hearing of the petition.
Ghana’s electoral process has undergone several reforms since the country decided to adopt the multi-party system of governance in a referendum in May 1992.
The very first election was conducted with opaque ballot boxes into which ballots were cast in very enclosed structures, while there were no pictures on the voters registration cards.
Since then, the Electoral Commission (EC), in consultation with the IPAC, has carried out many reforms, including the appointment of accredited agents by the political parties and the candidates on voting day.
This broad engagement by the EC has made Ghana’s electoral system one of the most transparent on the continent.
The question, then, is, if our electoral system is transparent, why did we have the challenge against the 2012 polls that took us eight months to litigate over?
The fact that there was litigation over the 2012 polls does not mean that the process was not transparent. We wonder whether there can be any polls under the sun that will be free from some level of irregularities and malpractices.
Perhaps it was for this reason that the Supreme Court reduced the issues it examined to basically whether the irregularities and malpractices were that significant to overturn the declaration of the results by the EC on December 9, 2012.
We must be thankful to God that the substantive matter has been successfully adjudicated, with the parties to the dispute accepting the ruling for the cloud of uncertainty that hung over us to begin to clear.
The Daily Graphic, however, thinks the peaceful atmosphere should offer the opportunity to interrogate the reasons for which we went along the path of litigation for eight months.
Mr Annan said the successful adjudication “must not blind us to the flaws in our electoral system that the judicial review has brought to light”.
All over the continent, Ghana stands tall because of our collective commitment to the rule of law and democratic principles.
Let us use the success chalked up so far to bring the otherwise polarised nation together and provide equal opportunities for all to benefit from the privileges, rights and obligations enshrined in the 1992 Constitution.
Daily Graphic/Ghana
Although the reasons for the affirmation of President John Mahama by the Supreme Court last Thursday are yet to be made public, there is a general feeling that our electoral system requires an overhaul to avoid some of the flaws that came up at the petition hearing.
In a statement last weekend, Mr Annan said those reforms would address the flaws that were identified during the hearing of the petition.
Ghana’s electoral process has undergone several reforms since the country decided to adopt the multi-party system of governance in a referendum in May 1992.
The very first election was conducted with opaque ballot boxes into which ballots were cast in very enclosed structures, while there were no pictures on the voters registration cards.
Since then, the Electoral Commission (EC), in consultation with the IPAC, has carried out many reforms, including the appointment of accredited agents by the political parties and the candidates on voting day.
This broad engagement by the EC has made Ghana’s electoral system one of the most transparent on the continent.
The question, then, is, if our electoral system is transparent, why did we have the challenge against the 2012 polls that took us eight months to litigate over?
The fact that there was litigation over the 2012 polls does not mean that the process was not transparent. We wonder whether there can be any polls under the sun that will be free from some level of irregularities and malpractices.
Perhaps it was for this reason that the Supreme Court reduced the issues it examined to basically whether the irregularities and malpractices were that significant to overturn the declaration of the results by the EC on December 9, 2012.
We must be thankful to God that the substantive matter has been successfully adjudicated, with the parties to the dispute accepting the ruling for the cloud of uncertainty that hung over us to begin to clear.
The Daily Graphic, however, thinks the peaceful atmosphere should offer the opportunity to interrogate the reasons for which we went along the path of litigation for eight months.
Mr Annan said the successful adjudication “must not blind us to the flaws in our electoral system that the judicial review has brought to light”.
All over the continent, Ghana stands tall because of our collective commitment to the rule of law and democratic principles.
Let us use the success chalked up so far to bring the otherwise polarised nation together and provide equal opportunities for all to benefit from the privileges, rights and obligations enshrined in the 1992 Constitution.
Daily Graphic/Ghana