The National Democratic Congress (NDC) and its presidential candidate, John Dramani Mahama, have been exposed for what their opponent has described as dishonesty in their posture towards the Electoral Commission (EC).
On the internet, there are receipts of statements made by the NDC and Mr. Mahama in support of the work of the then EC, ahead of the 2016 elections, but are opposed to the commission on the same subject in 2024.
The words of the former president and the NDC are being played back to them on social media, following what has been termed the incessant attacks on the credibility of the EC by the opposition.
Mr. Mahama and the NDC, according to reports that have surfaced on the internet, ahead of the 2016 general elections, saw nothing wrong with the EC and its work and praised its credibility.
At the time, the position of the ruling NDC was that Ghana’s electoral system has inherent mechanisms that make it impossible for the election management body to rig elections in favour of any political party.
Speaking at a forum in Bordeaux, France, in 2016, the former president remarked that Ghana has an Electoral Commission that is independent and dismissed allegations of interference in the EC’s operations.
He indicated that Ghana’s electoral system is one of the best in the world—not just in Africa, but globally—because it has built-in instruments to guarantee its integrity.
The former president reiterated his strong belief in the EC at a campaign rally in Funsi, Wa East Constituency, on November 18, 2016 just before the general elections.
According to a report by Citifmonline dated August 5, 2015 under the headline:‘NPP lobbies smaller parties for new voters’ register’, then General Secretary of the NDC, Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, was reported to have said at a press conference in January, that year, that the voters’ register was the “most credible since independenc.”
The National First Vice Chairman of the then ruling NDC, Ofosu Ampofo, in August 2015, according to the same Citifmonline report, described the NPP’s call for an audit of the new voters register as “absurd.”
TURN AROUND
However, in a turn of events, Mr. Mahama and the NDC have launched series of attacks on the EC, particularly going into the 2024 general elections, raising questions about the credibility of the EC and recently the voter’s register.
The opposition NDC plans to embark on a protest tomorrow, September 17, 2024 across the country, dubbed ‘Enough is Enough Demo’.
They are hitting the streets to demand a forensic audit of the voters register, as they claim there are challenges with the electoral register.
