EC official calls on police to get tough with hired political thugs

The Deputy Ashanti Regional Director of the Electoral Commission (EC), Mr. Samuel Sarpong, has called for the security agencies to get tough with any political party hired thugs, out there to disrupt and create confusion on the day of elections.

The expectation was that they would act fearlessly and robustly to deal with people, who attempted to either snatch ballot boxes or attack poll officials.

Mr. Sarpong said that was important to make sure that everybody played by the rules of fair conduct to protect the integrity of the elections.

The Deputy Regional EC Director was contributing to discussions at the second media convention on the November polls held in Kumasi by the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) and sponsored the United States (US) Embassy in Accra.

“Towards free, fair and undisputed 2016 elections” was the theme of the one-day event, which brought together journalists to share experiences in election coverage and draw relevant lessons.

Mr. Sarpong spoke of the need for all Ghanaians to get right with the electoral laws – reject multiple registration, vote buying, fraud, coercion and intimidation.

He said that was vital to enable every qualified voter to freely exercise their constitutional right of choosing their leaders without fear.

He underlined the Commission’s determination to continue to engage with the political parties at all levels to remove needless suspicion, boost confidence in the electoral body and make the outcome of the elections acceptable to all the parties.

Mr. Affail Monney, the GJA President, asked that the EC speeded up the election result relay process through a more agile information and communication technology (ICT) system without compromising on efficiency and credibility.

That he said, was necessary to “reduce the potential of people using social media to play mischief with election results”.

Source: GNA