Several months after the 2020 general election, and weeks after the Supreme Court brought finality to the validation of the results announced on December 9, the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has not given up in using every available opportunity to verbally assault and threaten the life of the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission, Jean Adukwei Mensa.
This is in spite of the trust Ghanaians have in the Electoral Commission, as revealed by a survey conducted by the European Public Policy Institute early this year.
The latest in a series of well-orchestrated attacks on Mrs Mensa by the NDC is a threat on her life by the National Organiser of the opposition party, Joshua Akamba. According to Mr Akamba, the NDC will ensure that Mrs Mensa does not “stay to declare the results” of the 2024 general election.
The NDC organiser said this is the biggest task of the party, adding that the NDC would give Mrs Mensa “what she is looking for”.
“NDC must stay focused and put its house in order. This time, we have to be stronger at the branch and constituency level to resist the oppressor and make sure that Jean Mensa does not stay to declare the results for the NPP. NDC have a bigger task to make sure that Jean Mensa does not stay there because she is not competent and she is into the bidding for a particular party. Whatever she is looking for, we will make sure that she gets it,” he said.
In an interview with Accra based Neat FM earlier this week, the NDC National Organiser insisted that the opposition party won the 2020 general election but was stolen by Mrs Mensa for the NPP.
“NPP lost the elections by over 145 seats and turned themselves into armed robbers to change the result. That is why Jean Mensa is not woman enough to come out and tell Ghanaians how Akufo-Addo won the polls. NPP lost in four years but used state institutions to rob the elections,” he said.
Mr Akamba’s recent threat of ‘eliminating’ the EC boss is coming at a time the party’s National Chairman, Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, is facing trial for similar alleged planned attack on the EC boss.
Mr Akamba did not explain how the party intends to ensure Mrs Mensa “does not stay to declare the results” of 2024, leaving many Ghanaians worried about the life of the EC boss.
Credibility
Meanwhile, a survey conducted by the European Public Policy Institute has reported that over 82 per cent Ghanaians have trust that the 2020 general election results were accurate. This is against 18 per cent who think the results declared by the EC chairperson were not accurate.
The ‘Political Overview Ghana National Survey’ was conducted in January this year. The researchers sampled 1258 eligible voters using phone interviews. It had a margin of error of +/- 3%, and was conducted in all 16 regions of the country, with an age range of 18 years and above. Fifty-three per cent of females in urban areas against 47 per cent males as well as 44 per cent females and 56 per cent male rural dwellers were sampled.
Out of the sample surveyed, 57 said they voted for President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in the 2020 general election; 37 per cent voted for John Mahama, while seven per cent voted for the other presidential candidates.
According to the 18 per cent respondents who felt the results were not accurate, 53 per cent claimed the EC failed; 12 per cent said the entire election was not fair; seven per cent felt votes obtained by the NDC were not counted; three per cent said there were intimidation at the various collation centres while 11 per cent said they had other reasons.
The huge percentage of respondents (82 percent) who said the results of the election were accurate seem to have made nonsense of the constant attack on the EC and its staff by the opposition NDC over the 2020 general election.
Again, 94 per cent of the total sample for the survey said due to the accuracy of the 2020 general election, they would vote again in the 2024 general election, adding that they would vote for the same candidate that they voted for in 2020. Six per cent, however, said they may change their pattern of voting even if they decide to vote again in 2024.
Source: dailystatesman.com.gh
