Share the post "EC Begins 2024 Election Prep with ‘Adokwei Gymnastics’ Again"
…As falsification of figures Marrs new registration exercise
In a reminiscent turn of events, Ghana’s Electoral Commission, under the leadership of Jean Adukwei Mensah, has encountered mathematical discrepancies at the onset of preparations for the 2024 elections.
This unsettling scenario harkens back to the controversial 2020 elections that were marred by accusations of fraudulent numbers culminating in the re-election of President Akufo-Addo.
Similar to the missteps evident in 2020, Jean Mensah’s Electoral Commission finds itself entangled in a web of inaccuracies during the ongoing limited voter registration exercise for the 2024 elections.
Perturbingly, erroneous daily voter registration figures have infiltrated the Electoral Commission’s database in various regions, raising concerns.
A recent incident on May 12th shed light on the discrepancies unfolding in the Upper East region. Initially, the Electoral Commission reported that 143,014 eligible voters were registered by the end of the fourth day of the registration exercise.
On 12th May, it emerged that the figures collated in the Upper East region, strangely changed. Initially, the EC reported that 143,014 eligible voters had been registered by the end of day four of the exercise.
However, a subsequent statement revealed a blunder in the data for day three, specifically in the Upper East region. Acknowledging the error, the Electoral Commission conceded that the figure for day three in the Upper East region had been mistakenly duplicated, leading to distorted registration statistics.
According to Jean Mensah’s EC, the figure for day three in the Upper East region had been repeated, leading to inaccuracies in the overall registration statistics.
“The Electoral Commission has noted some mistakes in the daily voter registration figures earlier published. The mistakes appeared in the total registered figures stated for days two and three although the individual regional figures were accurate, while the day three figure for Upper East was repeated for day four.”
It claimed that, “All these have been corrected.”
Despite assurances of rectification, many remain wary of the situation, given the haunting echoes of the 2020 election debacle under Jean Mensah’s leadership.
In the collation of the 2020 election results, the figures constantly refused to align, with vote counts adding up to more than 100% of the total number of votes cast.
These supposed mistakes were never really convincingly rectified, but Jean Mensah went ahead to announce that Nana Aklufo-Addo had won the presidential election with more than 500,000 votes.
Before she would announce the figures, the EC Chairperson tricked the NDC’s representatives in the EC’s strongroom, Rojo Mettle Nunoo and Dr. Michael Kpessa Whyte, by asking them to arrange a meeting with the NDC’s presidential candidate, former President John Mahama, before she would announce the results.
Then immediately the two reps left the EC’s strongroom to meet John Mahama, she went on and announced the results behind their backs.
The controversial figures that the EC used to announce the election for Akufo-Addo were never really reconciled logically, provoking former President Mahama to go to court.
It is against this background that Jean Mensah and the EC have began fumbling with the collation of figures for the ongoing limited voter registration exercise in preparation for the 2024 elections.
The shadows of the 2020 electoral controversy loom large as concerns resurface over the reliability and accuracy of the Electoral Commission’s data management.
In light of past grievances, where tally discrepancies cast doubt on the election results, the current mathematical fumbles fuel apprehensions among stakeholders.
As the Electoral Commission navigates the intricacies of voter registration and data collation for the impending 2024 elections, the echoes of past electoral turmoil serve as a stark reminder of the necessity for transparency and accountability in the electoral process.