Afari Gyan is not worth the accolades -Kofi Jumah
From Issah Alhassan, Kumasi
The firebrand New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament (MP) for Asokwa, Maxwell Kofi Jumah, says the competence of the Chairman of the Electoral Commission (EC), Dr. Afari Gyan, has been over exaggerated.
The NPP MP contends that the EC Chairman does not deserve the praises, because he had never displayed a willingness to ensure the smooth implementation of the electoral processes without being compelled.
According to him, Ghana had undergone six successful elections, not because of the competence of the EC Chairman, but because Ghanaians, by nature, are peace loving and accommodating to each other.
He observed that if what was happening in Ghana was to happen somewhere in Africa, there would have been chaos, stressing that the peaceful, understanding and cooperative nature of Ghanaians, must rather be commended for the country’s democratic achievements.
Kofi Jumah, popularly known as Kofi Ghana, stated in an interview with The Chronicle that Dr. Afari Gyan had never demonstrated, of his own free will, the desire to put into practice any initiatives that would help develop the country’s electoral system, without being forced by civil society groups and political parties.
“Just sit critically and analyze; when at all has Afari Gyan, through his own inventiveness, introduced any measure? Most of the recommendations come from political parties and pressure groups. Think about the use of transparent ballot box, use of photo ID cards, biometric, verification, which of them was an initiative of Afari Gyan?” he queried.
Kofi Ghana said he always boils with anger when he hears people singing the praises of the EC Chairman, as if he was the single individual who had engineered Ghana’s past and present democratic credentials.
The NPP MP contended that the recent attitude of the EC Chairman, vis-a-vis his stance on the 45 new constituencies, the decision to implement the Representation of the People’s Amendment Act (ROPAA), and the use of proxy voting, should tell Ghanaians about the real intentions of Dr. Afari Gyan.
“Who in his right frame of mind will put his country under such tense moments two months to elections; his utterances, posture clearly depict he is not willing to ensure free, incident free and transparent elections,” Kofi Ghana noted, describing the EC Chairman as an embodiment of clear incompetence.
The MP also chided Dr. Afari Gyan for showing gross disrespect to the Constitution of the state, citing amongst others, his decision to limit the implementation of the ROPAA to selected people outside the country.
He further observed that Ghana would go through the December 2012 elections, in spite of Dr. Afari Gyan.
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