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Politics of Tuesday, 19 April 2016

Source: topfmonline.com

EC Logo: Mahama “is not thinking right” – Asamoah Gyamfi

Asamoah GyamfiAsamoah Gyamfi

A member of the communications team of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Asamoah Gyamfi has said President John Dramani Mahama is “not thinking right” regarding his comment that criticisms on the Electoral Commission’s new logo is needless.

According to Asamoah Gyamfi, the president did not think through properly before making this comment because it is the criticisms against the EC that have ensured all the accolades it is enjoying at the moment. "It is apt for the Ghanaian public to criticize the electoral body when necessary," he noted.

President Mahama during the quarterly meeting with members of the Council of State said, “Some parties have made it a penchant to continuously attack the Electoral Commission for reasons I can’t understand. This is the time to give the EC peace to do its work.

“I mean how is a logo going to affect the quality of elections in this country? I don’t think it’s a discourse that we should be splitting heads on.

“I think that our Electoral process has inherent safeguards in it that any serious political party can ensure that it polices that election and ensure the integrity of the election,” said the President.

But speaking on TOP FM’s morning show hosted by Ekourba Gyasi on Tuesday, Asamoah Gyamfi said “am angry with President Mahama regarding his comments.”

“I don’t think he is thinking right because all the reforms that have come at the EC since 1992 came as a result of agitations and criticisms from the public.

“It is because of these reforms that came as a result of the criticisms that we say today that our EC is one of the best in the whole world,” he said.

Adding that, “we will continue to criticize the EC for them to do the right thing.”

He noted also that the EC broke the Public Procurement Act regarding the new logo because every state institution is supposed to advertise in the dailies whenever they want to procure an item or service.

“Ask them whether they did advertise,” he said; emphasizing that “they did not and so they have gone against the Procurement law.”

Jacob Adongo, a member of the NDC’s communications team said some of the criticisms by NPP members are unnecessary.

He told Ekourba Gyasi that the new logo will not in any way affect the outcome of the elections and so the criticisms are needless.

He, however, chastised the EC for not advertising the procurement of the logo and said it is against the law.