Sacked officials in Bawumia incident violated law – EC

The Electoral Commission (EC) says its decision to dismiss two officials who sent a voters’ register and verification machine to the residence of Dr. Mahamadu Bawumia was appropriate because they breached electoral laws.

Deputy Director of Communication at the Commission, Yusif Alhassan, said the action by the officials failed to adhere to a directive that voters can only be verified at exhibition centres.

“The rule if very clear; you are supposed to stay at the exhibition centre, you are not supposed to move to anybody’s home or any other place except you are sitting at the centre to be verified,”Yusif Alhassan said.

Two EC officials at the Walewale District office, Jobey Ambrose and Mumuni Latiffa, who sent the voter’s register to Dr Bawumia’s house, to enable him verify his name on the register.

The EC said it knew about the incident upon a ti-off.

It has been alleged that the sacked officials took the sum of GH₵10,000 from the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Vice Presidential Candidate.

“At no point should you go to anybody’s house to verify the person or let the person check his or her name so based on this the people were relieved of their duties and a new set of team was appointed. As at close of day yesterday, the Regional Directorate had received a report from the Supervisor so they are studying it and they will send a team on the ground to do further investigations and a report will be submitted to the Electoral Commission,” said Yusif Alhassan.

Meanwhile, the NPP has dismissed allegations that Dr. Bawumia induced some Electoral Commission (EC) workers with GH¢10,000 to break electoral laws.

Deputy Communications Director of the party, Anthony Karbo, says Dr Bawumia did nothing wrong when he received two EC officials to his home to verify his name on electoral roll.

According to him, the practice is not new.
He explained that Dr Bawumia had gone to a polling station in Walewale in the Northern Region to verify if his name was on the register, but returned home because of the long queue at the station.

He said out of respect for Dr Bawumia, the Electoral Commission officers offered to come to his house to verify him.

“Indeed my understanding is that they [EC officials] only brought the electoral register. He looked at it and realized that his name was still on the register and then asked them to go,” Anthony Karbo explained to Joy News Anchor, Evans Mensah.

Anthony Karbo said the incident was not the first and has dismissed suggestions that electoral laws have been broken.

“In Lawra for instance, the Paramount Chief of Laura didn’t go down to get himself registered. For many of the paramount chiefs, the Electoral Commission officials take the document to them,” he defended.

Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com | GN