Mr. Sarfo Kantanka explaining issues to the delegation.
Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com
By William Yaw OwusuThursday September 29, 2011.
THE DEPUTY Chairman of the Electoral Commission (EC) in charge of Operations, Kwadwo Sarfo Kantanka has reaffirmed the commitment of the commission to assert its independence under the constitution.
“This current composition of the commission has been in existence since 1992. We have supervised many general elections of which the outcomes have further consolidated the country’s democracy. We have always operated within the confines of the law and all stakeholders have accorded us the respect we need.”
Mr. Sarfo-Kantanka was speaking in Accra yesterday when a delegation from political parties in Tanzania paid a familiarization visit to the Commission.
The visit was organized by the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) for the delegation to get first hand information on how certain institutions of state are advancing the course of democracy in Ghana.
Giving an overview of the functions of the EC, the deputy Commissioner said it was erroneous for anybody to hold that the EC manipulated election results to favour certain political parties saying, “The system is so strict that before we at the national head office get the results, everybody is aware of it at the polling station level.”
Asked how the commission handles allegations of rigging he said, “Nobody has been able to prove allegations of rigging against us but when we receive reports of malpractices, we set our investigative machinery in motion.”
He said “we are subject to the electoral and other laws of the land. Where we go wrong we are taken to court. In most cases we win our cases and lose a few.”
He told the delegation that the Inter Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) has been very collaborative in the effort to ensure that the organization of elections is effective saying “they make their views known to us if they are not happy with certain issues and we take our time to explain issues to them.”
He noted that the EC was planning to increase the polling stations to about 23,500 so that the commission could bring the processes of elections to the doorsteps of the electorate.
Mr. Sarfo-Kantanka also said the EC was waiting for the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) to release findings from the 2010 Population and Housing Census to enable them to consider increment of constituencies.
The deputy commissioner said the collaboration between the security agencies and the judiciary was effective adding “we involve the security agencies particularly the police whenever the need arises.
“Once the system is solid, it will be difficult for anybody to be favoured. In the end it is the process that will indicate whether the process has been free and fair but in all these we have always tried our best to live above reproach as a commission.”
“We have insulation from interference under the constitution and we want to maintain the sanctity of the commission.”
Dr. Michael Ofori-Mensah, a policy analyst at the IEA, who led the delegation, in his introductory remarks, said the institute was committed to deepening the democratic engagements of state institutions to ensure accelerated development of democracy.
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