During the run up to the elections he was the hottest man in demand. At meetings with the IPAC, at Press Conferences, journalists crafted headline stories from the pronouncements of Dr. Kwadwo Afari-Gyan
From the beginning of the year, most election related news or stories, evolved around one man.
The issues evolved around the biometric voter Registration, Verification Machines, and the case of minors, whose names have appeared in the electoral register.
He has always been a man full of controversy. In 2004, he told Ghanaians he had the winner of the Polls, though results from some constituencies had not arrived and he declared Kufuor President-elect.
His reason; results from the remaining constituencies would not upset the results in hand.
In 2008, just when Ghanaians thought they had a winner, he said no, he had to go to Tain. And eventually Tain became the Florida of Ghanas elections that year.
And on Sunday, December 9, once more, he was the cynosure of all eyes as millions of Ghanaians sat glued to their Television and radio sets and waited with bated breath to hear the pronouncement, of the winner of the December 7 polls from him.
This time around, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) said it had issues, and indeed raised the Red Flag, but again he said; hold onto the issues, my mandate and duty is to declare the election results.
He has since 1992 been at the centre of every electoral activity and conducted and announced the results of six elections.
And he did. Later in an interview with the BBC, he said the NPP could go to court.
Who at all is this man Dr. Kwadwo Afari-Gyan?
Dr. Kwadwo Afari-Gyan has been the Chairman of the Electoral Commission of Ghana since 1993, having served as the Deputy Chairman in charge of operations of the Interim National Electoral Commission (INEC) the previous year.
As an election administrator, he has travelled to several countries on behalf of various organizations. He has also done electoral work for various organizations, including the Commonwealth, the United Nations, the International Foundation for the Electoral Systems, the National Democratic Institute, the AU, the ECOWAS, and the Friedrich Ebert foundation.
He has also conducted several elections in Ghana. In 992, he conducted a referendum on Ghanas 4th Republican Constitution including Parliamentary and Presidential Elections. In 1994, he conducted the local government (District Assembly) elections. In 1996, he organized the Presidential and Parliamentary elections. In 1998 he again organized the local government elections and has been organizing successful elections for Ghana till date.
Some people say he is controversial especially with regards to the issue of names of minors on the Voters Register.
In other countries, he has aided by providing technical advice to EMBs (Election Management Bodies) which has enabled them to organize successful elections too.
He served as a resource person for the pre-election workshop for the Mozambique Electoral Commission. For the AAEA, he was the chairman of the drafting committee of the AAEA Charter, mooted the AAEA, and co-hosted the AAEA founding conference with Uganda.
In 1991, he served on the committee that drafted proposals for Ghanas present constitution. Prior to his current profession, he taught at universities in America, Ghana and Nigeria for nearly two decades.
Since becoming an election administrator, he has travelled to several countries on behalf of various organizations to give technical advice, do technical assessment, observe elections, or participate in seminars and workshops.
Dr. K. Afari-Gyan obtained his training at the University of California, Santa Barbara (Ph.D) in Political Science from the University of Santa Barbara (974) and B.A in philosophy (1967) and M. A. in African politics from the University of Ghana, Legon (1969) at the same university.
He has authored several publications (including four books) on political, constitutional and electoral issues. These include: The Political Ideas of Kwame Nkrumah, Understanding Politics, The Making of the Fourth Republican Constitution of Ghana and The Ghanaian Constitution: An Introduction.
Dr. Kwadwo Afari-Gyan was born on June 18, 1945 at Anyimon in the Brong Ahafo Region. He is married to Eugenia and they have four children, two boys and two girls. He is a role model in Africa.
Source: The Spectator
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