Segbefia cautions IEA over “contemptuous” forum

Former Deputy Chief of Staff has criticised the invitation to political parties by the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) to review the country’s electoral system.

According to Mr. Alex Segbefia, the move is "premature and could be contemptuous" to the outcome of the on-going election petition hearing at the Supreme Court.

The IEA has invited the political parties to a two-day workshop at a yet-to-be determined date, to debate challenges encountered before and during the December, 2012 polls.

Excerpts from a copy of the IEA’s invitation sighted by Joy News stated:

“The introduction of Biometric Verification Machines to authenticate the identity of voters proved ineffective in many polling centres. This extended voting to the next day and created tension about the safety and security of the ballot boxes. While some Ghanaians argued that they be kept by the Security Agencies, some voters insisted that they be kept at the polling centres throughout the night under their vigilance.

Besides, there were several reported cases of electoral irregularities, including the disregard for the rule of law that one cannot vote without being first verified, over-voting, discrepancies between figures and letters of recorded voters etc.

Against this backdrop, the IEA in its attempt to increase transparency and integrity of the Ghana's Electoral System and begin a process of reforming the electoral system is organizing this Two-Day workshop.

Ghana as a country has chosen the course of multi-party democracy and constitutionalism. There is therefore the need to review and reform its Electoral System if we are to give true meaning to this choice."

But Mr. Segbefia believes the IEA is running ahead of itself. He said debating issues such as voting without biometric identification and alleged irregularities at some polling centres, amount to “disrespect to the court”.

“For the IEA to maintain its position of neutrality, it would be best to withdraw the invitation and wait for outcome of court ruling… issues of widespread voting without biometric verification is one of the issues court will rule on...it would be better to do so after the ruling has been given,” Mr. Segbefia stressed.

He is of the view that the workshop, although “a good idea,” can only be effective if it is organized after the judges have reached a determination on the petition.

Even though the IEA has declined comments on the matter, Joy News has gathered that some political parties have expressed their readiness to attend the meeting.