A logo must have spirit and soul
The appeal has gone out urging all to give the Electoral Commission (EC) the chance to conduct its affairs free of interference and unnecessary comments. I wish the advice to hold, but there is something about the EC going into election 2016 that leaves room for concern.
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Though it is difficult to place one’s hand on what exactly the uncanny feeling is, the commission’s exalted sense of being above reproach and, therefore, able to do its own thing without recourse to anybody, is courting for it some disfavour in the eyes of the public.
Lately, there has been a lot of heat generated with regards to the matter of a bloated voters register. In the effort to solve it, is the nation deciding to embark on validation, exhibition of the register or have a new register? That matter has not yet been settled. But before that is even resolved, the EC is said to have changed its logo.
While the change of logo may not have any direct bearing on the voting process and as such is of no consequence, as some say, on the broader level of nationalism, it has a big pull on people’s emotions considering that the commission is the fulcrum on which our nation’s democracy is supported.
Those who speak against the new EC logo, I believe, do not do so merely because the logo has been changed but because the one currently introduced does not have any national insignia that reminds of the commission’s unique role and position in national affairs.
Most people would be at ease if the new logo had the coat of arms in it, which signifies our national heritage and pride. The new logo looks so un-Ghanaian and has nothing in it that has to do with the work the EC does.
This new logo, which is meant to replace the original which is made up of the nation’s distinguishing badge - the coat of arms – and a hand casting a ballot, looks more akin to belong either to an institution for children, a social club or a basketball team.
As earlier intimated, the EC is not just any institution, but one that carries the spirit and soul of the nation.
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According to the Deputy Chairman of the EC in charge of Finance and Administration, Mrs Georgina Opoku Amankwaa, the logo in question went through a lot of processes and consideration before it was eventually accepted.
But what we are not being told is what went into selecting the designer and how much was paid for the creative concept.
If the bid for a new EC emblem was made open and wide, a lot more recognisably functional logos could have been produced that could serve the purpose of the EC better.
It is not for nothing that we have the picture of the Head of State and sometimes the national emblem hanging on walls in offices and factories all over the country. The picture and emblem signifies our national pride and our inviolability.
As it is, there is uncertainty all over the place because while a Deputy Chairman of the EC, Alhaji Sule Amadu says the EC has not come up with a new logo, his colleague Mrs Amankwaa is saying differently. In fact, there are pictures in town of an advert by the EC bearing the new logo.
Even though indications are that the new logo is to be launched sometime this month, I hope the Electoral Commission will listen to the voice of the people and hold on until later.
Now rather than address burning issues related to elections, the EC is rather courting unnecessary attention with the matter of a logo.