Deploy highly educated polling agents -EC

Koforidua, May 4, GNA- Political parties have been asked to deploy their influential members such as university professors and polytechnic lecturers as polling agents so as to bring about dynamism and vigilance in electoral policing and monitoring.

A Deputy Chairman of the Electoral Commission, Mr David Kangah, made the suggestion at an inter-party dialogue at Koforidua at the weekend and said more often than not, political parties deploy polling agents who had no knowledge about the electoral process and therefore were less vigilant in protecting their party's interests.

According to him, roping in educated people into the system will serve the parties well as the integrity of this group of highly skilled professionals cannot easily be called into question. Mr Kangah said although elections are mainly fought and won at the polling stations, some political parties have not attached much attention to that and only turn round to complain when results did not go in their favour.

He proposed to the political parties to use services rendered at the polling station as a yardstick when rewarding party activists after winning power.

He said often, many people who lobbied for posts after the party had won elections played marginal or insignificant roles when the party was in difficulties.

Such category of persons, he said, often included the highly learned and those interested in governance but were unwilling to play their part in bringing about victory.