PNC, PPP Unhappy About New Electoral Reforms

Some political parties in the country are unhappy about the Electoral Commission’s decision to exclude them from a ten-member committee to oversee the proposals for electoral reforms in Ghana.
The committee has General Secretary of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), Johnson Asiedu Nketia, Peter Mac Manu of the National Patriotic Party (NPP), Anim Kofi Addo from the YES party and James Kwabena Bomfeh from the Conventions People’s Party (CPP).
The rest are Georgina Opoku Amankwa (Chairperson), Christian Owusu Parry (EC), Rebecca Kabuki, Kwesi Jonah (IDEG), Ransford Gyampoh (IEA) and Franklin Oduro (CDD).
Meanwhile, other political parties including the People National Convention (PNC), Paa Kwesi Nduom’s Progressive People’s Party (PPP) among others were not represented on the committee.
Expressing his disappointment on Eyewitness News, the General Secretary of the PNC, Bernard Mornah said, “we think it is unfair for us not to have representation on the committee.”
He said recommendations from the committee will not “represent the true picture” of all the political parties in Ghana.
“For instance the PNC does not share the view that we should go e-voting… but other political parties share the view that e-voting should be the way out in order to minimize electoral fraud, and because the PNC was not represented, we may not be able to persuade our counterparts from other political parties to the dangers that exists in this manner,” he explained.
He further stated that should they be part of the committee they would also ensure that journalists are given the opportunity to take part in the special voting organised for security personnel.
This, he said, is because most journalists are busy on the day of election so they usually do not vote stating, “that in itself is an affront to their franchise.”
Meanwhile, the CPP’s James Kwabena Bomfeh speaking on Eyewitness News was hopeful the committee will discharge their duties “diligently as expected of them.”