Director of Elections and IT of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Dr Edward Omane Boamah, has accused the Electoral Commission (EC) of causing financial loss to the state due to the consistent reprinting of ballot papers.
This accusation follows the shortage of ballot papers in five constituencies in the Volta region: Keta, Hohoe, Ketu North, Ho Central and Ho West thus the need for the EC to print additional to be delivered to the constituencies. Omane Boamah dissatisfied with the situation accused the EC of causing financial loss to the state.
“When we were talking about the discrepancies in the register, these are some of the manifestations. The taxpayer pays for the reprinting of the consistent reprint of the ballot papers. The EC is causing financial loss, it may not be willful, but they are inadvertently causing financial story in the state,” he said.
Speaking to journalists in Accra on November 29, he noted that all these discrepancies could have been avoided if the EC had provided the print house with accurate ballot statistics.
“There is going to be a reprint of ballot papers in the Volta region with Ahafo where the serial numbers had issues and it has to be shifted to a different company, and we are again dealing with another issue regarding Volta Region that has to do with shortage. The situation could have been avoided if the right ballot statistics had been issued by the electoral commission.
“We have had so many instances of ballot papers reprinted and that last of it has to do with the Volta region. As I told them in the meeting, the people in the print house had the ballot statistics, and they obeyed the ballot statistics, so the question is how come they identified in the Volta region that the ballot papers sent there were inadequate. It means that the ballot statistics in the print house contradict the data that the regional director have in the Volta region.
“That is why I was insisting that they tell us the cause of the discrepancy, Unfortunately, they just smuggle themselves through many words without addressing the cause and that in itself is at the heart of this election,” he stated.
Boamah advised the EC to seek the support of the UNPD to enhance credible elections as they played a pivotal role in the generation and the implementation of the peace pact that was signed by the presidential candidates on November 28, 2024.
“The electoral commission must halt, and do some introspection, it is not too late, UNPD has the capacity, and they can assist them. With the peace pact, the development partners were actively involved. In the same way, they should allow the development partners to assist them for them to be able to deliver credible elections.
“We do not want an outcome that will make us witness what happened in 2020, where Madam Jean Mensa made double corrections on the declaration of the results. Ghana’s democracy is advanced, if they cannot add to the gains, they should just maintain the standards and not subtract from them,” he argued.
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