Henry Nana Boakye, the National Organizer for the New Patriotic Party (NPP), has labelled the National Democratic Congress’s (NDC) demand for a forensic voter register audit as frivolous.
In a social media post, Nana B argued that the NDC has failed to provide any legal basis for their request, suggesting no merit in engaging with their claims.
He emphasized that the Electoral Commission (EC) operates as an independent body with the discretion to collaborate with third parties, a choice that even the courts cannot mandate.
Nana B defended the EC’s established practice of working with political parties to address concerns, noting that this approach has successfully facilitated five elections throughout the Fourth Republic.
He criticized the NDC’s insistence on imposing a third-party audit, framing it as an infringement on the EC’s independence, particularly given the Commission’s ongoing engagement with parties through the Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC).
Read His Post Below
NDC’s CALL FOR VOTER REGISTER FORENSIC AUDIT UNWARRANTED, EMPTY & MUST BE REJECTED
The NDC has failed to provide any legal basis for its unwarranted call for the Electoral Commission to cede its constitutional mandate regarding the voter register to some third party.
Article 45 of the 1992 Constitution and Section 2 of the Electoral Commission Act, 1993 (Act 451), exclusively confers on the Electoral Commission, the mandate of compiling electoral register and supervising all elections.
In pursuance of this mandate, Article 46 of the Constitution and Section 3 of Act 451 expressly guarantees the independence of the Commission in the performance of its functions and make it not subject to the direction or control of any other person or authority.
The Supreme Court, in several cases including Philip Kwaku Apaloo, (2010), Ransford France (2012), Abu Ramadan Series (No. 1 and 2) and NDC v AG (2020) has upheld the independence of the EC and affirmed that where multiple choices avail the EC in the performance of its functions, the EC has the sole discretion to choose one and nobody, not even the Courts can compel otherwise except the decision is unconstitutional.
The present choice of the EC in working with the parties to address any concerns has been the practice throughout the 4th Republic and successfully resulted in five (5) elections. The insistence of the NDC in controlling the EC by compelling the introduction of a 3rd party into the execution of the EC’s constitutional mandate is a breach of its independence. More so, when the EC throughout its processes has constantly engaged parties at IPAC and actively worked to resolve any concerns.
The NDC should know, that while the EC may engage stakeholders in the performance of its functions, that cannot be construed as conferring a right to decide what choices the EC makes in the execution of its constitutional mandate.