Chief Justice urges EC officials to be circumspect

The Chief Justice, Mrs Justice Georgina Theodora Wood, on Wednesday urged officials of the Electoral Commission (EC) to be circumspect in the discharge of their functions.

She said any acts of indiscretion could have political and social consequences on the nation.

Mrs Justice Wood was swearing-in two new Commissioners for the EC in Accra.

They were Mrs Sa-Adatu Maida, Former Project Consultant for West Africa Peace Building Initiative (WANEP) and Mrs Rebecca Kabukie Adjalo, Former Senior State Attorney, to replace Nana Amba Eyiaba I and Mrs Eunice Akweley Roberts who had retired from the EC.

The new members swore the oath of allegiance, office and secrecy.

She cited the disturbing images of misery and hardships of armed conflicts arising out of electoral disputes from other parts of the world which must be avoided in the country.

Mrs Justice Wood tasked the new Commissioners to see their appointment as an honour and challenge with regard to the enormity of the task of managing elections in the country’s democracy.

She commended the EC for receiving worldwide approval for the conduct of general elections since its establishment in 1992.

“As a human institution, however, the Commission cannot claim to have attained perfection in the structures and procedures that it operates and hope it is working at improving upon those structures and procedures”, she said.

Mrs Justice Wood urged the EC to work assiduously to ensure that all qualified people were franchised.

She said the Supreme Court recently held the view that prisoners who qualified to vote did not lose their franchise by virtue of their status and the EC was enjoined to facilitate their registration to exercise their right to vote.

Source: GNA