The Electoral Commission (EC) has refuted claims made by Franklin Cudjoe, the president of IMANI Africa, that it denied the people of Santrokofi, Apkafu, Lolobi, and Lipke (SALL) the right to vote.

In a statement released on Wednesday, May 15, EC made it clear that it never denied the people living in the recently established Guan Constituency their right to vote.

The EC clarified in seven points that it never disenfranchised anyone during its procedure and that it adhered to all legal procedures when establishing a constituency.

The EC went on to call the accusations untrue and advised the public to ignore them.

”The Electoral Commission has received an audio circulating on social media in which the President of Imani accuses the Commission of disenfranchising the people of Santrokofi, Apkafu, Lolobi and Lipke (SALL). We wish to state categorically that his accusations are false and without basis. The Commission never disenfranchised the good people of the newly created Guan Constituency. It is not in our interest to do so”.

Below is the full statement.

INABILITY OF SALL (GUAN CONSTITUENCY) TO VOTE I N THE 2020 PARLIAMENTARY ELECTION-DISREGARD FALSEHOOD AND MISINFORMATION FROM IMANI PRESIDENT

The Electoral Commission has received an audio circulating on social media in which the President of Imani accuses the Commission of disenfranchising the people of Santrokofi, Apkafu, Lolobi and Lipke (SALL). We wish to state categorically that his accusations are false and without basis. The Commission never disenfranchised the good people of the newly created Guan Constituency. It is not in our interest to do so.

Here are the facts surrounding the inability of the residents of SALL now the Guan Constituency, to vote in the 2020 Parliamentary Election.

1. The Legislative Instrument (L. I. 2416) which created the Guan District (SALL) was laid in Parliament on the 6th of October, 2020 by the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development (MLGRD). It matured on the 9th of November, 2020, roughly a month to the 2020 General Elections.

2. Parliament went on recess on the 9th of November, 2020, the same day the L.I. creating the Guan District matured and returned on the 14th of December, 2020, one week after the 2020 General Elections.

3. On the 10th of November 2020, the Electoral Commission received a letter from the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development informing it of the creation of the Guan District (SALL). The letter requested the Commission to take steps to create a new Constituency.

4. The Commission drafted a new Constitutional Instrument (C.I.) to bring into force the Guan Constituency and forwarded the draft C.I. to the Attorney General’s Department for its review on the 13th of November, 2020 as required by law.

5. It is important to state that for a C.I. to mature and come into force, the law requires the Electoral Commission to lay the C.I. in Parliament for twenty-one (21) sitting days. This means that Parliament should be in session during the twenty-one (21) day period when the C.I. is laid.

6. With Parliament on recess, the Commission could not lay the C.I. to bring the Guan Constituency into effect as required by law.

7. The question is, how could the Commission proceed to create a new Constituency when Parliament was on recess and when the law required the Commission to lay the C.I. before Parliament for twenty-one (21) sitting days?

How can any well-meaning person accuse the Commission of disenfranchising the good people of SALL when the facts are so clear?

It is unfortunate that IMANI continues to peddle falsehood and untruths about the Commission at every point and turn. His narrative that the Commission disenfranchised the people of SALL, now the Guan Constituency, is FALSE. We urge the public to verify information put out by IMANI, with the Commission for the truth and the facts.

To enable the public ascertain the truth, we have attached the letter from the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development to the Commission requesting it to create the new Constituency and the Commission’s letter to the Attorney General seeking to create the new Constituency.