Former President Jerry John Rawlings has urged the Electoral Commission (EC), to ensure the processes leading to this year’s elections are done in consultation with relevant stakeholders to obviate unnecessary suspicions.
He indicated that, election is an event but, building a democratic, free and peaceful society is a process so the debate surrounding the new voter’s register must be thoroughly examined so we do not undermine the successes we have chalked so far, as a nation.
Speaking at a virtual durbar to mark the 41st anniversary of the June 4 uprising which he led, Mr. Rawlings said the constitutional mandate of the Electoral Commission must be respected by all whilst everyone work towards perfecting the electoral process.
“The sanctity of the right of choice is not a matter we can compromise with. That sanctity must be preserved at all cost and as we inch towards November let us ensure that the institutional processes are transparent and beyond blemish” Mr, Rawlings stated.
Former President Jerry John Rawlings also added that “freedom and justice is not abstract. It is very much related to the sanctity of the right of choice. Those who are eligible to exercise that right of choice should not and cannot be disenfranchised by dictates that defeat one’s right to vote”.
The 41st anniversary of the June 4 uprising was commemorated under the theme, “Strengthening the Spirit of Patriotism, Resilience and Integrity in Difficult Times”.
Recounting events that led to the uprising, Ambassador Dan Abodakpi expressed worrying that, whilst the world was under siege of the COVID-19 pandemic, there were unprecedented levels of arrogance of power by duty bearers across Political, Public and Civil administrative structures of governance.
He indicated that, Leaders of all categories in Ghana are either forgetting or are refusing to remember that sovereignty resides in the people and that ultimately, leaders must be accountable to the people.
Ambassador Dan Abodakpi added that “duty bearers at the various sectors of our socio-economic fabric ought to bear in mind that the offices they occupy are not ends in themselves but meant to achieve the greater good of the people”.
He again indicated that “It is the refusal of these duty bearers to acknowledge this fact that result in chaos and upheavals of which history is replete with concrete examples to guide the present generation”.
General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Johnson Asiedu Nketia called for the immediate closure of Parliament to help curb the spread of the Corona Virus.
He alleged that 13 cases of COVID-19 has been recorded in the house and wondered why Parliament is still sitting contrary to norm that every institution that has recorded cases were closed for a period of time.
Source: Edward A. Ken-Zorre | www.diamondfmonline.com | Ghana
