IEA Council Members Angry

There is deep anger among certain council members of the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) over the manner in which the institute nearly succeeded in confirming its bias, which has been under suspicion over the years. The anger is as a result of the recently controversial workshop which was planned for political parties to discuss the December 2012 elections. Inside sources at the IEA have it that most of the council members were not aware of any such workshop and were more worried over the contents of the letter inviting participants to attend the workshop, from last Friday, July 5 to Saturday 7 July. In fact, the invitation letter in no small way usurps the power of the Supreme Court in the ongoing election petition. However, the partisan institute suffering from credibility crises made a quick u-turn and called off the event at the last hour, after it had been exposed. It is not clear what prompted the much touted all knowing IEA to take such decision. But insiders at the institute told The Enquirer newspaper that it was realized after it had been exposed that it could be dragged before the Supreme Court over the content of the invitation letter. However, the insiders tell The Enquirer that many of the council members were taken aback as when such decision was taken to have the workshop. More disturbing to the council members, according to the insiders, were the contents of the letter that could land the institute before the Supreme Court. That letter dated June 11, 2013 signed by the Executive Director of the IEA, Mrs. Jean Mensa, was not mindful of the fact the Supreme Court was presently hearing issues concerning the December 2012 elections and stated that �Ghana conducted relatively peaceful, free and fair elections in 2012. However, there were several irregularities that marred the beauty of the nation�s efforts to consolidate her democratic gains through elections. The letter from the institute that boasts of great academicians said: �The introduction of biometric verification machines to authenticate the identity of votes proved ineffective in many polling centres.� The IEA that was scolded by a section of the Ghanaian public for its bias in the run-up to the December 2012 elections said in the invitation letter that the extension of voting to the next day created tension about safety and security of the ballots boxes. �While some Ghanaians argued that the ballot boxes must be with the security agencies, some voters insisted that they be kept at polling centers throughout the night under their vigilance,� the IEA said in its letter. It continued in the letter that seems to suggest that the IEA knows everything more than what the parties are battling over at the Supreme Court �Besides, there were several reported cases of electoral irregularities including the disregard for the rule that one cannot vote without being verified, over-voting, discrepancies between figures and letters of recorded votes etc.� The IEA before the 2012 December elections came under severe fire for various infractions in the organization of debate for Presidential candidates of various parties: In one instance, there were accusations that it had leaked the questions to be asked to one of the parties. At another time, it was accused of fixing special stands for a certain Presidential candidates who was too short without informing the other parties.