Decline of public trust in EC is worrying – Former A-G

A former Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, Marietta Brew, has expressed worry about what she describes as the decline in public trust when it comes to the Electoral Commission (EC)

This, she said, is worrying, a news report by gbcghanaonline.com stated.

Speaking t an event to mark the Constitution Day, Marietta Brew, referenced the Afrobarometer Round 9 Survey in 2022, conducted by the Centre for Democratic Development (CDD), that showed a decline in the credibility of the EC and the trust it once enjoyed among the people of Ghana.

She attributed this decline to the unprecedented admission by the Commission Chairperson during the 2020 elections, about an error in the announcement of Presidential Results without proper clarification or involvement of political parties.

“As an ordinary citizen relying on this data, I can safely conclude that there is an increase in public mistrust of the Commission,” she said.

She said in a country, where elections were fiercely contested and often determined by a tiny margin, the admission of any error was bound to affect the credibility of the EC.

“The happenings did not require a soothsayer to predict this decline in trust in the aftermath of the 2020 elections,” the former AG said.

Highlighting the importance of the EC's independence as outlined in the 1992 Constitution, Marietta Brew acknowledged that this independence is not absolute, as the Constitution also subjects the EC to principles of accountability and other checks and balances.

“It is, however, crucial to understand that this independence has fetters as the same Constitution makes the EC subject to the principles of accountability and other checks and balances enshrined,” she said.

She said the electoral crisis of Santrokofi, Akpafu, Likpe and Lolobi, popularly called SALL and some aspects of the 2020 Election Petition were the reasons why trust in the EC had waned.

Despite these challenges, the former attorney general, affirmed that the country's reputation as a thriving democracy remains unquestioned.

According to the survey by the CDD, only 9.8 percent of the population said they trusted the EC a lot (compared to 20.8 in 2019), while 22.7 percent said they somewhat trusted the EC (compared to 32.1 per cent in 2019).

Meanwhile, 27.3 per cent said they trusted the EC just a little (compared to 22.2 in 2019) with 0.5 per cent saying they do not know whether they trust the EC (compared to 7.7 percent in the 2019 report) and 39.7 percent indicating they do not trust the EC at all (compared to 18.9 percent in 2019).

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