<<Print>>

A member of the communication team for the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), Richard Asante Yeboah has prayed to the Supreme Court that their ruling should contain a directive not to give signatory powers to polling agents during subsequent elections. According to him the Supreme Court should render polling agents� signature impotent in subsequent elections because if results can be declared based on polling agents signatory then the agents in the strongholds of a political party will drive away the presiding officers from the polling stations and do whatever they want with the elections. Speaking on Okay FM, he expressed that �we should make sure that consistently and continuously the mandate should be given to the presiding officers because if a point is established in the ruling of the Supreme Court that the signature of a polling agent is equally important to declare results, then there will be danger in the country�. Another thing which the NPP communicator hoped for in the ruling of the Supreme Court over the 2012 election petition hearing is that there should be electoral reforms because the case has revealed some bad practices such as time for the commencement of the election and the negligence on the part of the presiding officers before, during and after the elections. He however said that the Presiding Officers should be given thorough training before the election; adding that the Supreme Court can pass into law that teachers must be used to conduct every election in the country to ensure accuracy and decorum in the conduct of the elections. He therefore suggested that beyond the teachers, there must be a cutoff point for qualification of Presiding Officers; in that they should be holders of either diploma or HND before they should be allowed to handle the elections. He however said that Ghanaians should understand that politicians are not enemies but their disagreement is based on ideologies and preferences; hoping that the outcome of the Supreme Court�s ruling will favor the NPP because to him the petitioners have a solid case before the judges to win the case.