A Senior Lecturer at the History and Political Science Studies Department of Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Dr. Samuel Adu Gyemfi, has strongly panned and opposed a decision by the Electoral Commission, Ghana (EC) to review the voting duration ahead of the 2020 elections.
According to the Chair of the Commission, Jean Mensa, the move to reduce the duration from 7:00am-5:00pm to 7:00am-4:00pm – though not approved yet – is to improve the security at the polls.
Speaking at the opening ceremony of an ECOWAS-UN Workshop on Tuesday, Ms Mensa said: “The Commission will discuss the idea of reducing the duration of the voting from 7am to 4 pm to allow for the counting and collation of results well before dark.”
She said the Commission is not only keen on ensuring a peaceful and conducive voting environment but keen to guaranteeing the security of the ballot and make every vote count.
But Dr Adu Gyemfi has vehemently questioned the rationale behind the intended reform and has called on political parties and other stakeholders to reject it at the Inter-Party Advisory Committee level.
Speaking in an interview on Onua FM’s Ghana Dadwene on Tuesday, September 9, the KNUST lecturer told host Nana Okyere Awurukuo that the move by EC is a total disgrace to Ghana’s democracy and a discredit to the electoral processes.
He added that the move exposes the malpractices in elections in the country.
Dr. Adu Gyemfi wants the EC to rather put in place better mechanisms and modalities to achieve its mandate.
He wants government to accelerate and expand the rural electrification project to allow EC in providing light at all polling centers should the elections travel beyond the stipulated time.
He admits that Ghana needs reforms in the electoral processes but not a move that will disenfranchise most workers from voting, if voting day falls on a working day.
He also called on the general public to desist from going to the polling center late to vote to avoid rush which could subjugate their right to vote.
By Mawell Otoo|Onua FM|3news.com|Ghana