Nobody can frighten me, not even the death threats – Afari-Gyan

The Chairman of the Electoral Commission, Dr Kwadwo Afari-Gyan has stated emphatically that nobody can intimidate him and that he will perform his duties as mandated by law despite receiving death threats for insisting on creating 45 new constituencies before the December elections.

He said there had been many discussions across media platforms targeted at his person and accusations of him receiving 'between five to ten million dollars' bribe from government. 

Dr Afari-Gyan, who wondered whether persons engaged in that conduct hoped to frighten him, said 'During the Rawlings regime, they said the same thing - we [EC] were in bed with government. During the Kufuor administration, they said the same thing; we were in bed with Kufuor regime.'

'We must be…prostitutes to be in bed with all these various governments.' 

Speaking at a forum organised by the Institute for Democratic Governance (IDEG), on electoral reforms Wednesday, Dr Afari Gyan stated 'It's becoming very nauseating; everywhere you turn to, Kwadwo Afari-Gyan, Kwadwo Afari-Gyan, Kwadwo Afari-Gyan, Kwadwo Afari-Gyan. 'What have I done'? he asked, and answered, 'I don't know.'

The EC chair explained that there were in all, seven commissioners and stressed that it was insulting for anyone to assume he (Afari-Gyan) wielded so much power to take decisions alone.

He demanded an immediate stop to the practice where he had become the subject of discussion, saying: '…the Kwadwo Afari-Gyan, Kwadwo Afari-Gyan, please it must cease!'

He noted that if the affairs of the commission did not lie in the hands of one person, then 'Why personalize it, why single me out?'

'Maybe the intention is to do harm to me, maybe to frighten me. Let me say that I will not be frightened.

'I will do my work…in accordance with [the commission's] understanding of the rules and regulations under which it operates.' 

Source: Myjoyonline