A former second deputy Speaker of Parliament, Prof. Mike Ocquaye says Ghana risk missing out on the November 7 date for the polls if the Electoral Commission fails to get their act right.
Ghana’s Electoral Commission (EC) has in recent times come under criticism for not showing enough sign that it is ready for the 2016 general elections scheduled for November. Issues such as voter education and non valid ID cards have been a subject of discussion in the build up to the proposed November 7 polls.
In an exclusive interview with Winston Amoah, host of 3FM’s Sunrise, the former Deputy Speaker questioned the EC’s readiness, adding that the elections may not take place if the right steps are not taken
“Remember very well this matter of the district assembly elections when people warned the EC but they did not listen
“In the end the Supreme Court came in and the elections could not be held and Ghana suffered financial loss.
“You are being told that it is illegal for somebody to register with NHIS and you know you have some of them in there so do you need somebody to come from heaven to tell you to do the right thing?” he asked.
“The only person, body or authority that declares on the finality of every controversy in the Republic of Ghana is the Supreme Court otherwise we will go back to the jungle.
“Everybody must subject himself to the Supreme Court and that every public officer must know that it can be supervised by the court in the sense that when you don’t want to do what is right the court can compel you to do it by mandamus.
“If you are trying to do something which is wrong the court can prevent you by prohibition and if you are proceeding on a certain way you can be injuncted by the court.
“My fear is that if we go about things in this fashion we may come to November 7 or December 7 and will not have an election”.
By Nana Afrane Asante | 3news.com | Ghana
