President-elect, John Mahama has urged the Electoral Commission (EC) to ensure transparency and fairness in its handling of the disputes surrounding the declaration of parliamentary results in nine constituencies.
Speaking on the matter, Mr Mahama emphasised the need for the EC to act consistently and uphold established principles.
He criticised any attempt to alter procedures to suit particular circumstances, calling for uniform application of the rules.
“There are few outstanding issues arising from the election. As you are aware, nine constituencies are in dispute, and we think that the Electoral Commission should act in a principled manner. You cannot change the rules when it suits you and apply different rules when different circumstances exist,” he stated.
Citing precedents from the 2020 elections, Mr Mahama recalled the EC’s stance on declarations under contentious conditions.
He mentioned the case of Techiman South, where a declaration was made amidst chaos and under the protection of armed personnel.
He argued that despite calls for a re-collation, the EC maintained that once a declaration had been made, grievances must be addressed through the courts.
“There was a particular case in 2020 and the Electoral Commission came out clearly that if a declaration had been made, it was not the duty of the Electoral Commission to adjudicate it.
“The courts were the right place to go. And so if a declaration has been made, it doesn’t matter under what circumstances…They are saying that somewhere under duress. In the case of Techiman South, it was under duress.
“There were soldiers in the collation room. There was chaos in the collation room when the declaration was made and the same arguments were passed that, there should be a re-collation and the Electoral Commission said, no. There can’t be any re-collation once a declaration has been made,” he recounted.
The President-elect asserted that the same standard should apply to the current cases.
He stressed that any grievances regarding already declared results must be resolved through judicial processes, not unilateral actions by the EC.
“In these circumstances, declarations have been made. If people have a grievance, they must go to the courts and redress those grievances there. We don’t think that the goalpost should be shifted depending on who is at the other end of the stick,” he added.
While acknowledging a single case where no declaration was made, he noted that the EC’s role would be to determine the appropriate course of action, potentially including a rerun.
Calling for fairness and justice, Mr Mahama urged the EC to resolve the disputes promptly to bring clarity to the outcome of the election.
“We think that there must be fairness and justice in everything that we do. And so that’s a concern we have, that those issues will be resolved as quickly as possible so that we know what the final outcome of the election is,” he added.
