Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com
By William Yaw Owusu
Tuesday, May 24, 2016
Powerful Christian groups do not believe the Electoral
Commission (EC) has been able to engender enough confidence among the political
stakeholders to be able to organize credible general election in November.
According to the Christian Council of Ghana and the Ghana Catholic
Bishops’ Conference, the EC has a long way to go to convince Ghanaians,
especially the political parties, that it is fully ready for the polls.
Transparent
Elections
“The Electoral Commission bears the primary responsibility to
conduct free, fair, transparent and credible elections in Ghana. Therefore, we
expect the Commission to engender confidence among all players and continue to
remain neutral, fair, honest and transparent in all its actions and decisions,”
the two groups stated at the end of their Annual Joint Meeting, held at St.
Theresa Catholic Church, Kaneshie, Accra, last week.
A statement
jointly signed by Most Rev. Joseph Osei-Bonsu, President, Ghana Catholic Bishops’
Conference and Most Rev. Titus K. Awotwi Pratt, Vice Chairman, Christian
Council of Ghana, also appealed passionately to the political parties to call
their followers to order in view of the already charged political atmosphere.
Circumspection & Decorum
“We note with
worry and anxiety the current political atmosphere leading up to elections
later this year and wish to call on all politicians and their supporters to be
circumspect and decorous in their utterances and actions.
“We are distressed
and worried by the current display of political impunity and complacency
evident in intimidation, accusations, counter-accusations, hate speeches,
intra-party and inter-party violence, threats of kidnapping and murder, among
others, the group underscored.
The Christian leaders indicated, “The problems
associated with the recent limited registration exercise have convinced us that
some politicians and political parties will do anything and everything to win
political power at all cost.”
EC’s Decisions
They said that the EC should continue to explain its
actions to the stakeholders, adding, “Pertinent issues such as the problems
associated with the limited voter registration exercise, the cleaning of the voter
register as ruled by the Supreme Court, biometric verification,
among others, need to be addressed now.
“Related critical issues, including what the EC intends
to do with the proposed Steering Committee as well as the needed reforms to the
electoral system as submitted by the Reforms Committee and the way forward for
the recommendations of the 5-member Prof. VCRAC Crabbe Committee must be made
known now.
“The proposed November 2016 elections may seem to be far
but they are not. Thus, we appeal to the EC to act expeditiously and come up
with a clear roadmap for the impending elections. We pledge our support and
prayers for the process.”
Spy Bill
The group also touched on the Interception
of Postal Packets and Telecommunication Messages Bill 2015 - popularly called Spy
Bill - saying, “We think that the proposed
Interception of Postal Packets and Telecommunications Messages Bill 2015 is
unnecessary and called for its withdrawal.”
They further discussed the controversial 3-year and
4-year duration at the Senior High School (SHS) level and asked the government
to reassess the situation. “We recommend the adoption of a two-tier approach as
contained in the Prof. Anamuah-Mensah Committee report,” the religious leaders
posited.
They also condemned examination malpractices and leakages in the
education sector and asked for stringent measure to prevent future occurrences.
They were deeply worried about
the erratic power supply (dumsor), noting that it has collapsed many businesses
and shut down industries.
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