ELECTIONS COULD BE POSTPONED -Kofi Jumah

From Issah Alhassan, Kumasi

The firebrand New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament for Asokwa constituency in Kumasi, Maxwell Kofi Jumah has delivered the strongest caution yet, as far as the events surrounding the upcoming general elections are concerned.

The NPP MP has warned that the December 7 elections risk being postponed if the current controversies surrounding the 45 newly constituencies are not resolved.

The outspoken MP says Ghanaians should not be surprised if the upcoming elections do not come to pass because of the flurry of hullabaloos surrounding the creation of the new constituencies.

“Don’t be surprised if somebody places an injunction on the December elections and when that happens, Ghanaians should not blame anyone, they should blame Afari Gyan and the Electoral Commission,” Jumah noted.

Speaking on the weekend morning show programme on Hello FM in Kumasi, the Asokwa MP, popularly known as Kofi Ghana, indicated that the EC was putting Ghana’s democratic credentials into jeopardy by their continue insistence on going ahead with the new constituencies, when there are lots of things yet to be accomplished in the electoral process.

The decision by the EC to go ahead with the creation of the new 45 constituencies and implement it for the upcoming elections has sparked lots of debates in the country with civil society groups, religious bodies and the opposition parties expressing strong displeasure at the decision.

Kofi Ghana said one thing Ghanaians and for that matter the EC had failed to realize was that the electoral process in this country was not sacrosanct, stressing that the electoral process could be legally truncated should the EC dabble in any form of acts that have the tendencies to discredit the process.

Stating with utter conviction that the creation of the 45 constituencies will not come into fruition, Kofi Jumah said it would be in the interest of the peace of this country if Dr. Afari Gyan reconsidered his decision on the new constituencies

 

He argued that there were lots of outstanding issues to be considered in the electoral process, including recent discrepancies in the exhibition of the voters’ register during which some names were missing, the use of verification amongst other that ought to be addressed by the EC.

 

“Instead of attending to these issues, Afari Gyan is concerned with creation of constituencies as if that is what Ghanaians are crying for,“ he questioned.

However, an NDC panelist on the show and District Chief Executive Officer of Ejisu Juabeng

Municipality, Mr. Afrifah Yamoah Ponkoh, put up a strong defence in support of the EC, arguing that the Commission was under obligation to create the constituencies.

He said the NPP was depriving the people of development, indicating that y creating the constituencies; it will pave way for beneficiary constituencies to have their own MPs who will lobby and facilitate the development of the areas.

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