PARTIES CAN'T MANIPULATE ELECTION RESULTS (PAGE 14)

THE Deputy Chairman of the Electoral Commission (EC), Mr Safo Kantanka, has entreated political parties not to buy into rumours suggesting that any of the parties could manipulate the electoral process to alter the election results.
He noted that the EC had formulated strategies that made the processes so transparent and difficult to change stressing that “nobody should disturb you with rumours and strange stories about rigging the elections since they are all fantasies”.
Mr Kantanka stated this at a forum in Tamale on safeguarding the integrity of the ballot. The forum was aimed at, among other objectives, sensitising parliamentary candidates to the electoral process as part of preparations towards the December Polls.
The forum discussed issues such as inbuilt integrity of Ghana’s electoral process vis-à-vis the last lap of the 2008 election calendar as well as the importance of polling agents.
It was organised by the EC with support from the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and KAB Governance Consult (KGC).
“It is not true that the results are tampered with in Accra; people who peddle such rumours do not understand the electoral processes and that is why we are encouraging all parties to engage the services of people who are knowledgeable in the electoral process”Mr Kantanka stressed.
He intimated that the EC did not “direct anybody to cheat as the commission is taking concrete steps to make the election very credible”.
The deputy chairman equally urged political parties to resist the temptation of giving money to some people to change the results.
“We know that even presiding members cannot manipulate the system because we have our own ways of checking the loyalty of presiding members” he further explained.
Mr Kantanka advised political parties to engage the services of good party agents who should have adequate knowledge about the electoral process.
“It is necessary that political parties do not allow their followers to vandalise any electoral materials such as ballot papers and boxes; such negative tendencies are a recipe for violence and can further cause delays in declaration of the results where such incidents occurred” he cautioned.
Touching on the issue of minors, Mr Kantanka reiterated the resolve of the EC to prosecute those who engaged in double registration before the elections.
The Regional Director of the EC, Mr. Sylvester Kanyi, noted that the issue of double registration and minors were perpetrated by some political parties who turned round to blame the EC for those negative tendencies.
Some of the parliamentarians suggested to the EC to make known to the public, people found to have engaged in multiple registrations during the recent limited registration exercise as a way of safeguarding the elections.