Chairperson of the Electoral Commission(EC), Jean Mensa, has said that the return of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) to the Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) has been beneficial, as the party has contributed to the development of Ghana’s electoral system.
Having boycotted IPAC meetings since March 2021, the NDC announced a return during a stakeholder meeting on inter-party dialogue organised by the National Peace Council (NPC).
National Chairman of the NDC, Johnson Aseidu Nketiah who made the declaration indicated that the party’s U-turn followed interventions by the NPC and stressed the need to restore IPAC to its consensus-building role.
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According to the EC chair, the NDC’s return has been very profitable.
“I think it is great to have the NDC back. As you yourself mentioned they have been missing at IPAC for a long time. We are well aware that they are very important stakeholders in our body politics.
“They are the main opposition, and they constitute a formidable force. It is a great benefit to all of us that they have returned to IPAC.”
Madam Mensa added that since the party’s return, they have offered feedback on what the EC has adopted to help run the just-ended registration exercise.
“The discussions have been going on very well. They have been very constructive. It has been valuable feedback that has come from the NDC as well as some of the other parties… so for the just-ended registration exercise there was valuable feedback that the NDC brought on board and we have considered quite a number of ideas and the suggestions and we have taken them on board so we continue to engage in a constructive way,” she added.
Background
The NDC refused to attend an IPAC meeting scheduled for Wednesday, April 21, 2021.
The meeting was aimed at allowing the various political parties to review the December 7, 2020, general elections.
“The National Democratic Congress (NDC), declined an invitation by the Electoral Commission of Ghana to attend an IPAC meeting to review the 2020 Parliamentary and Presidential Elections which was scheduled for Wednesday 21st April 2021. The party took this decision because of the lack of candour, odious duplicity, and open bias that was displayed by the Jean Mensah-led Electoral Commission in favour of the New Patriotic Party in the conduct of the 2020 general elections,” the NDC said in a statement.
The NDC, in the statement, justified the action, saying it was to protest the supposed bias displayed by the Electoral Commission during the polls.
“It is the considered view of the NDC, that the current leadership of the Electoral Commission who supervised the manipulation of the 2020 general elections and the stolen verdict that resulted from same, lack the integrity, credibility and impartiality to lead any such discussions or review of the very elections they rigged,” it said.