Electoral controversies: Does it run in the family, Jane and Jean?

Don’t get me wrong about the title of this piece. It is not to spite the person of the chairperson of the Electoral Commission (EC) of Ghana and her relations. The question the title of this piece poses was the same question asked by my friends on 10th December 2020 when I showed them two interesting articles pointing to the relations between Mrs. Jean Mensa (Ghana’s EC Chairperson) and Dr. Jane Ansah (former EC Chairperson of Malawi), and the irregularities that embroiled the Malawian general elections in May 2019 supervised Dr. Jane Ansah.

The fact is that, if you follow the article written by Sylvanus Nana Kumi, you would realize that, Jean and Jane have no blood relations. The writer sought to draw commonalities between these two hardworking women who have risen to such offices. And like “ A tale of two sisters: Jane and Jean ”, I seek to present the ‘A tale of two elections: Malawi and Ghana’ – a befitting title for this piece and not the mischievous title that I guess you think it currently has. Let the tale begin…

Aiding the incumbent to rig the election

Two opposition parties in Malawi led by Lazarus Chakwera and Saulos Chilima accused the EC for aiding the president to rig the polls. The main opposition party in Ghana led by John Mahama believes the EC has stolen the will of the people in favour of the president.

Electoral irregularities

The petitioners in Malawi pointed to irregularities and breaches of the electoral process by the EC thus, rigging the elections for the ruling party. Some of the irregularities and breaches included “the use of correction fluid on some of the tallying forms sent in by polling station; illegal alterations of large number of tally sheets, use of numerous duplicate tally sheets where originals unspeakably went missing”. Others included “mathematical errors”, and transmitting of “wrong copy of results sheet to the main tallying centre” by polling officials.

In Ghana’s 2020 general elections, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has mentioned several electoral irregularities similar to the Malawian case. Some of these include vote padding, computational errors in tallying figures; and missing of declaration sheet by returning officer in Techiman South constituency where the officer was purportedly reported to have said that, the sheet is burnt. They have also claimed “serious violations of the 1992 Constitution by the EC and its Chairperson and Returning Officer for the Presidential Election in the conduct of their constitutional and legal responsibility”.

Seriousness of the electoral breaches

In Malawi, the lawyers of the petitioners admitted that though, the cases of computational errors, use of correction fluid on tallying forms, and the transmission of wrong copy of results sheet to the main tallying centre were not huge, they argued that the evidence pointed to a flawed process. They prayed the Court to nullify the results.

In Ghana, the main opposition party has pointed to few breaches of the electoral process (e.g. Techiman South constituency as a major one that in their view can send the election into a run off). They also highlight a few instances of computational errors, and inconsistencies in the presidential vote figures captured in the press release on 10th December 2020 to correct the EC Chairperson’s declaration on 9th December 2020, and the gazetted figures of the presidential results. The petition is praying the Court among others that, “the purported declaration of the results of the 2020 Presidential Election on the 9th day of December 2020 is unconstitutional, null and void and of no effect whatsoever.” The petition argues that, neither the two leading candidates (President Akufo Addo and John Mahama) obtained more than 50% of total valid votes hence, the need for a runoff.

The Electoral Commission’s response

The Malawi Electoral Commission defended its handling of the elections as one that complied with the law. It admitted that though, few forms were found with correction fluid, it was not used to change results, but to “alter procedural information that had been incorrectly entered”. It also admitted that, wrong copy of the results sheet had been submitted in some cases, “the copy had been signed off by party agents and the tally itself was correct”.

The Ghana Electoral Commission has also defended the integrity of the general election as free and fair. However, it has admitted to some errors and has subsequently issued appropriate corrections. It has maintained that the corrections did not change the results.

The ruling government’s response

The Democratic Progressive Party (then ruling party) in Malawi insisted that, they won the election fairly often citing largely favourable reports of international observers. The New Patriotic Party (Ghana’s ruling party) has defended the legitimacy of their victory and also cites the observations of the election observers.

What will decide the verdict of the Court

The verdict will be decided on superior arguments backed by hard facts and not conjectures and crafted pronouncements that tickle the ears of party supporters and followers. This is already seen in the departure from some earlier statements and pronouncements made by the NDC in the lead to the election petition towards those that are competent enough to be heard at the Apex Court. Again, the verdict would be decided on the fact that, the Supreme Court finds the irregularities grave enough to warrant a rerun or serious enough to significantly change the results for a runoff.

For the Malawians, Justice Frank Kapanda of the Supreme Court said the Court found that, the irregularities in the election “were not only serious but also troubling”… and that, “such irregularities seriously undermined the credibility, integrity and fairness of the elections”. The Court ruled for a rerun. The leading opposition candidate Chakwera in response to the verdict said, the “verdict has demonstrated impartiality on the part of the country’s judicial system…has “sent an example not in just the African continent and across the world that if you seek justice you can find it”. The President, Mutharika said the judges had “erred in law”. He appealed but, the appeal was rejected.

What would be Ghana’s verdict? Like many of you my fellow Ghanaians I eagerly look forward to the legal arguments, the Court’s verdict, and the reactions of the parties and the citizens…

William K. Dumenu