Nii Kpakpo Samoa Addo, a prominent member of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), has urged the Electoral Commission (EC) to reassess its handling of the parliamentary election results collation during the 2024 general elections.
Speaking on Asaase Radio’s “The Forum” on Saturday, 28th December, Addo expressed concerns over the chaos that often erupts at constituency collation centres, which he believes undermines the credibility of the democratic process.
While Addo acknowledged that polling stations generally remain calm during voting and counting, he highlighted that tensions escalate during the collation of parliamentary results at constituency centres. “The EC has run elections under the fourth Republican constitution for a number of years now, and we’ve all come to appreciate various challenges that are associated with the elections,” he noted. “So far, we don’t seem to have a problem with the polling stations because it seems everybody wants to be patient and wait for the elections to be completed at the polling stations.”
However, Addo pointed out that the situation takes a troubling turn at the collation centres, where “candidates and their supporters, upon realizing they are losing, resort to disruptive tactics.” He described this as a “dangerous trend,” warning that it could lead to further instability in future elections. “Candidates and their supporters have decided that, OK, we’ll wait first to see how we are doing at the polling stations where we think we are losing, then we will cause mayhem,” he explained.
The NDC member stressed the need for the Electoral Commission to take immediate action to address this issue. “If the Electoral Commission does not take a review of this election and take pragmatic steps to stop this particular trend, we’ll have a situation where it will become the rule of the mighty, brute force, where people will just wait, gather their results, realise that they are losing, and decide that they will make it impossible for the collation and the constituency office to happen,” he warned.
Addo also raised concerns about the security of collation centres, noting that many of these centres have been plagued by inadequate security measures. “Persistently, we are getting these clear signs that most of these centres are not secure,” he said. He proposed that the EC consider relocating collation centres to more secure locations, such as police divisional headquarters, or ensure that existing venues are heavily secured with armed police personnel.
“If we decide to use the secondary schools, we must secure the area,” Addo suggested. “There must be enough armed policemen deployed so that it is only accredited persons who enter the collation centre area.” He stressed that securing the collation centres is not only necessary but should be the norm, especially as the stakes in the 2024 elections are expected to be higher than ever.
The NDC figurehead reiterated the urgency of reforming post-collation procedures, stressing that such reforms are crucial to protecting the integrity of Ghana’s elections. “The post-collation of the parliamentary results must be reviewed. It is very, very important,” Addo emphasized.
His comments reflect growing concerns about the transparency and security of Ghana’s election processes, particularly as the country prepares for the high-stakes 2024 general elections. As tensions rise, calls for stronger security measures and procedural reviews are likely to become central to discussions in the lead-up to the elections.
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