The Electoral Commission (EC) has suspended the 18-member Election Steering Committee it inaugurated few days ago.<\/p>\n
This follows massive protest against some members of the committee by pro-opposition\u00a0pressure groups.<\/p>\n
The EC had earlier said it will not dissolve the committee over the allegations.<\/p>\n
But the political parties said the EC announced the latest decision after an Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) meeting held today [Friday].<\/p>\n
The EC according to the political parties said it will look into the concerns raised at the meeting and deal with them accordingly<\/p>\n
[contextly_sidebar id=”6LtvmqEEQqHmsST2bLhM7Xt5K2iAjsP8″]Three persons on the committee have been accused by pro-opposition group Let My Vote Account (LMVC), the Alliance for Accountable Governance (AFAG) and Mustapha Hamid, Spokesperson of the flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), of being members of the National Democratic Congress (NDC).<\/p>\n
They are Joseph Whittal, Deputy Commissioner at CHRAJ,\u00a0Dr.Karl Max Aarhin, a\u00a0Deputy Director of International Affairs of the NDC and\u00a0Francis Azumah of the National Peace Council.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the EC according to the political parties, has agreed to look into the concerns raised and address them appropriately.<\/p>\n
Protest against NDC members on committee<\/strong><\/p>\n The Electoral Commission inaugurated the\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>steering committee<\/a><\/strong><\/span> ahead of this year\u2019s election scheduled for November. The\u00a0Let My Vote Count Alliance raised red flags against some members of the committee saying the composition is politically biased<\/a><\/strong><\/span>.<\/p>\n They accused the EC Chairperson, Charlotte Osei, of deliberately picking National Democratic Congress affiliates from relevant institutions to man the steering committee.<\/p>\n NDC is blameless – Anyidoho<\/b><\/p>\n A Deputy General Secretary of the incumbent National Democratic Congress (NDC), Koku Anyidoho, said the party cannot be blamed<\/a><\/strong><\/span> for the inclusion of its Deputy Director of International Relations, Dr. Karl Marx Arhin, on the Elections Steering Committee.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong>Mustapha Hamid, Spokesperson for NPP Presidential Candidate, Nana Akufo Addo, asked some two members of the 18-member committee to step down<\/a><\/strong><\/span>.<\/p>\n We won’t dissolve committee<\/strong><\/p>\n On Thursday February 18, the Electoral Commission called the bluff<\/a><\/strong> <\/span>of the pro-opposition groups saying the mere fact that there are concerns with one or two persons on the committee, does not mean the entire committee is compromised.<\/p>\n NSS did no wrong\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n The Executive Director of the National Service Secretariat (NSS), Dr. Michael Kpessa Whyte, also defended the initial selection of Dr. Karl Marx Arhin as the representative of the NSS\u00a0on the committee, saying nothing bars him<\/a><\/strong><\/span> as a citizen from holding that position even though he is a card bearing member of the National Democratic Congress (NDC).<\/p>\n Dissolve committee now – AFAG<\/strong><\/p>\n Pro-opposition pressure group, Alliance for Accountable Governance (AFAG), joined the chorus by alleging that a third person<\/a><\/strong><\/span> on the committee was also an NDC member and so the committee must be\u00a0dissolved.<\/p>\n I’ve no NDC membership card<\/strong><\/p>\n But that member, Joseph Whittal, a Deputy Commissioner of CHRAJ,\u00a0rejected allegations<\/a><\/strong><\/span> that he should be withdrawn from the committee because he is a known loyalist\u00a0of the NDC.<\/p>\n –<\/p>\n By: Godwin A. Allotey & Fred Djabanor\/citifmonline.com\/Ghana<\/p>\n