Jaman North B/A: EC Makes U-Turn....Polls Postponed To Thursday

There has been another U-turn in the Jaman North constituency as the Electoral Commission (EC) has announced voting has been postponed in the constituency to tomorrow [Thursday].

In a press conference addressed by the EC’s Director of Electoral Services, Samuel Tettey, he admitted that “several efforts by our officers to move materials to the 92 polling centres in the constituency were unsuccessful.”

Mr. Tettey also noted that “the security teams on the field could not guarantee a safe environment for the polls to continue.”

“Therefore, as a result of the security challenges, the Commission has decided to reschedule the elections in the Jaman North constituency to tomorrow, Thursday, December 8, 2016,” the Commission concluded.

Mr. Tettey reminded that voting in the constituency will start at 7am and end 5pm at all polling centres in the constituency per usual.

Earlier on Wednesday, representatives of the various political parties, the District Security Council (DISEC) and stakeholders in the area agreed to postpone the voting to Thursday.

This followed a disagreement over the voter transfer list which the National Democratic Congress (NDC) claimed was bloated by over 30 names.

But the Commission quashed a decision by the political parties to postpone the elections because it said it was not consulted before the prior decision to postpone the polls.

The latest turn of events appears to have vindicated the General Secretary of the NDC, Johnson Asiedu Nketia, who was for the postponement of the polls.

He had explained to Citi News that they arrived at the decision because “Jaman North is a difficult terrain,” hence it will be difficult to dispatch electoral materials before close of polls today, Wednesday.