Representatives Of Political Parties Tour EC

Representatives of nine political parties from the Brong Ahafo and Upper West Regions have examined facilities of the Electoral Commission (EC) as parts of its measures to deepen confidence of political party executives in the electoral process. The political parties are the Convention People�s Party (CPP), People�s National Convention (PNC), Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), Independent People�s Party (IPP) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP). The other parties are the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Great Consolidated People�s Party (GCPP), Progressive People�s Party (PPP) and the United Front Party (UFP). The tour, dubbed; �The Inbuilt Integrity of Ghana�s Electoral Process,� was organized by the EC in collaboration with the Department for International Development (DFID) and KAB Governance Consult, on Tuesday. Mr Ebenezer Aggrey-Fynn, Commission Member for Brong Ahafo Region, said the project was part of the EC�s determination to enhance the credibility of the 2012 Presidential and Parliamentary elections. He said the tour was an opportunity for party executives to correct all negative impressions about the duties and responsibilities of the Commission on electoral matters calling on them to utilize the platform provided. �The EC will do all it can to enhance credibility to attain the confidence of party executives and the citizenry in electoral processes therefore I encourage all participants to fully participate in the tour,� he said. Mr Isaac Asomaning, Director of Elections, EC, introduced participants to the EC�s Fax Room popularly known as the �Strong Room.� He said impressions created by individuals that the fax room was an extra ordinary place were lies and called on party executives to debunk that notion. �Each fax machine collates results from the regions therefore the notion that the supposed strong room is made up of huge equipments should be corrected,� he said. Mr Asomaning called on the executives to support the Commission to discharge its duties and responsibilities. Mr Anthony Amedzeke, EC�s Director of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), who led participants on the inspection tour, said the core duties of the department was to implement policies into data information. He said the ICT department was responsible for the detection of malpractices during voter registration exercises. Mr Alasidongor Baluri, Member of IPP, in an interview with the Ghana News Agency, commended the EC for the project saying it was an effective approach to enhance the credibility of electoral process. Mr Clifford Tampuori, Upper West Regional Secretary of PPP, expressed disappointment at the state of the EC�s Strong Room saying that the country had come far and needed sophisticated equipments to collate its elections results. �I am disappointed to see the much talked about strong room in this ordinary state. The EC should purchase modern equipments to facilitate the speed of the collation�. Mr Abdul-Salam Yakubu, Upper West Regional Chairman of UFP, said the tour was an opportunity for party executives to be educated on mind boggling issues on the on-going biometric voter registrations and the entire electioneering process. He said the UFP had elected Parliamentary Candidates who would contest for five constituencies in the Upper West Region.