Providing security for elections not part of our mandate – EC

Chair of the Electoral Commission (EC) of Ghana, Mrs Jean Adukwei Mensa has said it is not the duty of the elections management body to provide security for elections in Ghana.

She said the work of the EC as indicated in the constitution do not include providing security during polls.

She however, expressed concerns about the deaths that characterized the 2020 general elections.

During the polls, a total of 61 electoral and post-electoral incidents were recorded nationwide, the Ghana Police Service announced in a statement on Wednesday, December 9, 2020.

The statement said 21 of the incidents were true cases of electoral violence, six of which involved gunshots, resulting in the death of five.

The Police’s statement further noted that there were several fake news about supposed electoral violence.

Speaking at inter part advisory committee meeting in Accra on Tuesday, May 18, Mrs Adukwei Mensa said “An exceedingly disturbing challenge is the violence which led to the death of citizens of our country.

“And we say never again. Never again should we go to an election and have anybody lose their lives. Here also, there is a tendency for fingers to be pointed at the EC when security is not the core mandate of the EC.

“I have read the constitution and security is not part of our core mandate. I use this occasion to clarify that the EC is not responsible for election security, although the entire election and its success rest on the shoulders of the Commission. Our mandate as entrenched in the Constitution does not include security.”

She further proposed that polls should close at 3PM rather than the 5PM.

“We propose closing the polls at 3pm rather than 5pm.  In 2019, we announced our decision to close the polls at 3pm rather than 5pm, in the 2020 election. Nonetheless, owing to the COVID-19 pandemic and the stringent, and necessarily time-consuming safety protocols we instituted at our polling stations, we were compelled to put this proposal on hold.

“Over the past months, however, this proposal has re-surfaced from various sections of the public, and indeed, our own experience from the 2020 elections has revealed that it is a workable proposal, as by 1pm, most polling stations were empty, suggesting that this is a workable proposal. Therefore, this is a reform we intend to put forward.”