Petition against GJA election dismissed

The Electoral Dispute Adjudication Committee (EDAC) of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) has dismissed a petition against the conduct of the GJA election that was held last week.

A statement released by the EDAC on Thursday, October 5 said: “In pursuant of Article 44 (a) of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) constitution of 2004, two employees of New Times Corporation, in a letter dated October 2, 2017 petitioned the Electoral Dispute Adjudication Committee (EDAC) regarding the GJA election that was held on Friday, 29th September 2017.

“The basis of their petition is that, they were both denied the opportunity to vote in the elections although they are paid members of GJA.

“The Elections Dispute Adjudication Committee, having considered the petition, concluded as follows: One of the petitions was not signed for which reasons we rejected it accordingly.

“With regards to the other petition, we concluded that an appeal or protest in relation to the omission of one’s name or otherwise from the GJA Elections Voters list ought to have been brought to the attention of the GJA Elections Committee in line with Article 43 of the GJA constitution before the elections.

“Coming to the Elections Adjudication Committee after the elections on issues regarding the omissions of one’s name from the register leading to the person not being allowed to vote is procedurally flawed.

“We, therefore, summarily dismiss both petitions as they seek to achieve the same objectives and the issues are the same. The Committee has separately written to the petitioners accordingly.”