One would certainly not have any reason to complain if much effort is not put in to achieve an objective. The idiomatic expression, garbage in garbage out, would best explain this scenario.
But it is frustrating to learn that all the efforts and commitment to a particular course has come to not. Those were the sentiments expressed by the Member of Parliament for the Akuapem South Constituency, Hon. Osei Bonsu (O B) Amoah, regarding the performance of the Electoral Commission, especially in last year’s general election.
The NPP MP opines if the Chairman of the Electoral Commission (EC), Dr Kwadwo Afari-Gyan, had been the Coach of the Senior National Football Team, the Black Stars, he would have been dismissed for non performance centuries ago.
“If Afari-Gyan was to be the coach of the Black Stars, he would have been sacked long ago. If we expect so much…high standards from certain institutions, why not the EC? The kind of money we spend in election that is not what we get from them. We must be sincere.
“Some of us had to fight in parliament to make sure the EC had some funding. Dr. Duffour, it got to a time, when he thought we were blackmailing him. We told him if you don’t bring money for EC, we would not even listen to your budget…he had to come and promise us, ‘no we have already released 50 million to EC so, listen me,” the Legislator asserted.
Hon. OB Amoah, who is also the Chairman of Parliament’s Subsidiary Legislation Committee, made these statements on Metro TV’s ‘Good Morning Ghana’ programme, during a discussion on invitation to political parties by the Electoral Commission, to propose ways to reform the electoral system.
The representative of the people of Akuapem South in the august House of Parliament was unusually worked up by the fact all the hard work stakeholders had done to make sure the EC had all it needed to conduct a credible elections had amounted to nothing.
The Law Maker called for a major shakeup in the hierarchy of the EC and dismissed the argument that the EC Chairman should be allowed to remain at post because he is due for retirement next year.
“…every Judge has admitted that there were shortfalls. So we shouldn’t keep quiet about and say that, let the man retire next year and go his way. How many institutions would you tolerate such a thing, in the Black Stars?” Hon. Amoah quizzed.
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