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“We find it unacceptable that the EC should be shutting down at this critical moment and without any clarification to the public of the alternative arrangements that have been put in place,” some Ghanaian civil society organisations have told the election management body.
According to the CSOs comprising the Institute for Democratic Governance (IDEG), Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII), Centre for Democratic Development (CDD), Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), Civic Forum Initiative (CFI), Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition (GACC) and Norsacc, it is not the time for the EC to shut down considering the issues surrounding the recently-held polls.
The CSOs’ reaction comes after the EC announced that it will go on a Christmas and New Year break, effective Wednesday, December 23, 2020.
“Following the successful and peaceful conduct of the 2020 Presidential and Parliamentary Elections, Management has decided that the Commission will break for Christmas and New Year on Wednesday, 23rd December 2020 and resume duty on Tuesday, 19th January 2021,” the notice read.
The EC led by Mrs. Jean Mensa conducted the 2020 general elections on Monday, 7 December 2020.
The exercise aimed at electing a president out of the 12 presidential candidates and 275 parliamentary representatives.
On Wednesday, 9 December 2020, the incumbent President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, was declared the winner of the poll.
Out of the 13,119,460 total valid votes cast, Nana Addo of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), polled 6,730,587 votes representing 51.30 percent.
His closest contender, the presidential candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Mahama, polled 6,213,182 representing 47.359 percent.
But the NDC has rejected the outcome of the results while accusing the Electoral Commission of presenting “flawed” and “rigged” results in favour of Nana Addo and the NPP.
They insist that Mahama won the elections.
Hundreds of NDC supporters have since resorted to protests across the country to drum home their demand reservations.
