Oliver Barker-Vormawor, #FixTheCountry convenor and lead petitioner for petitioners calling for the removal of the Electoral Commission (EC) Chairperson for disenfranchising the people of Santrokofi, Akpafu, Lolobi and Likpe (SALL), has expressed discontent with the Commission’s recent statement absolving itself from any wrongdoing.
He said the petitioners are convinced that the EC’s actions leading to the disenfranchising of SALL residents were “intentional or negligent and thus criminal.”
Residents of SALL only voted in the 2020 presidential election and did not vote in parliamentary elections. This decision was contained in a statement from the EC on December 6, 2020, the eve of the general election.
Following the creation of the Oti region, the EC was mandated to amend the Constitution Instrument (C.I. 95) to place SALL in the Oti region for voting purposes.
However, the petitioners maintained that the Commission took no steps to ensure that the people of SALL will be placed in their proper region for voting purposes.
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“Following the Dzatse decision, the Electoral Commission, in July 2020 took upon itself the direction of the Supreme Court and laid in Parliament the Representation of People (Parliamentary Constituencies) Instrument 2020 (C.I. 128) which came into force on 11 August 2020. In that C.I. 128, the Electoral Commission placed the traditional areas of Santrokofi, Akpafu, Lipke and Lolobi in the Buem Constituency.”
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“By the Electoral Commission’s own pronouncements, C.I. 128 was intended to ensure that Ghana is divided into two hundred and seventy-five constituencies for the election of members of Parliament which would hold its first sitting in January 2021 and for subsequent elections.
“For these reasons, it is without doubt that the Electoral Commission breached the 1992 Constitution, which enjoined it from depriving anyone of their right to vote and in that regard acted in a way that amounted effectively to a suspension, overthrow or abrogation of a crucial part of the Constitution with regard to the eligible voters in SALL.
“We are convinced that the actions of the Electoral Commission were either intentional or negligent and thus criminal; or that they were a demonstration of ineptitude, both of which are disqualifying,” excerpts of a statement issued on Thursday, May 16, read.
According to the petitioners, despite calculated efforts that have stifled their attempts to call the EC and its principal officers to book, “We continue to hold hope that the individuals who were the controlling minds in procuring this grave injustice to our constitutional democracy will one day be called to answer for their crimes against the Republic.”
In a related development, the President of IMANI Africa, Frankly Cudjoe, has hit hard at EC on its May 14 statement. Mr. Cudjoe questioned the Commission about whether it was his “grandfathers who disenfranchised the SALL residents.”
In a media interview, Mr. Cudjoe remarked, “…and you come and tell people that you were not the ones who disenfranchised SALL, it was my great-great-grand fathers who have died already who actually came and disenfranchised them.”
The post SALL disenfranchisement: Your actions were intentional, negligent and criminal – Barker-Vormawor to EC first appeared on 3News.
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