Election observation is not an automatic right – Bossman Asare

3 News

Mon 25th Nov, 2024 09:51

The right for persons or institutions to serve as observers during an election is not automatic, a Deputy Commissioner at the Electoral Commission (EC), Dr Bossman Asare, has said.

He says that the commission receives applications and reviews these applications to ascertain the qualified ones to grant them the right to do so.

Speaking in an interview on TV3 on Monday, November 25, Dr Bossman Asare said “We allow all those who want to observe to apply, once you apply we look at your track record and experience in observation etc. We have a team that will assess,  if you are denied the opportunity you can still petition the commission, we have an international observer group that was denied but they petitioned the commission.. it is not an automatic right.”

His comments come at a time when some civil society organizations including the Centre for Conflict Resolution-Ghana (CENCOR) criticized the electoral commission for denying them accreditation to be election observers.

Addressing a press conference in Accra on Tuesday, November 12,  Convener of the Civil Society Coalition, Adib Sani said that “We, vehemently decry this singular arbitrary act by Mrs Jean Mensah, someone who was propelled by her Civil Society credentials, as a major fault line that seeks to undermine the credibility of the 2024 elections.

“It is indeed a grievous affront to the democracy it has taken all of us so much effort to build. Mrs Jean Mensah’s unjustified denial of accreditation to the CSOs is not only a breach of the rights of our organizations to participate and contribute to ensuring the free, fair, and credible electoral process that the EC itself professes to espouse, but also raises critical questions about the EC’s commitment to an open and democratic election process.

“It is not only surprising but really worrying that the EC Chairperson could act with such impunity as to disrespect organizations that have with EC accreditation deployed Observers for every single election since 2008 and having contributed to ensuring the integrity of the vote with a terse five-line, four-sentence letter which abruptly declares that: “The Commission is unable to accept your application at this time,’.”

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