Election outcome confirms our systems worked — EC boss

The Chairperson of the Electoral Commission (EC), Jean Mensa, has described the outcome of the 2024 general election as a confirmation and affirmation that its processes and systems worked,

"The outcomes are indeed an attestation that elections in Ghana are free, fair, credible and transparent. It is a confirmation that elections are indeed won or lost at the polling station, and therefore it is important for political parties to also own what happens at the polling stations..

"It is also a confirmation that the Electoral Commission of Ghana can be trusted to conduct and undertake free, fair, transparent and credible elections year after year," Mrs Mensa said.

"It is also an affirmation that the choice of the people and the citizens as expressed at the polls is what the Electoral Commission of Ghana will always support and declare.

 Election outcome

"As a Commission, we have always maintained that our role is not to make any candidate or political party a winner.

This is a message that we have reiterated time and time again, and it was not lost on us anytime we had our meetings with our staff, both permanent and temporary, as well as our meetings with key stakeholders," Mrs Mensa stressed.

Mrs Mensa made this known at an Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) meeting held in Accra yesterday.

The meeting was attended by the various political parties, including the New Patriotic Party (NPP), National Democratic Congress (NDC), Convention People’s Party (CPP), People’s National Convention (PNC), Great Consolidated Popular Party (GCPP), All People’s Congress (APC), Ghana Union Movement (GUM) and Progressive People’s Party (PPP).

It was to rekindle the cooperation and collaboration between the EC and the political parties, as well as civil society organisations (CSOs).

Commendation

 She also used the occasion to congratulate the National Democratic Congress (NDC) on winning the presidential election, saying, "You won the elections of 2024 without a shadow of doubt.

As they say, ‘nothing missing, nothing broken’; and it was clear that you were the winners of the elections. Congratulations."

"To their competitors, the New Patriotic Party, and to all other political parties and independent candidates, we say better luck next time," Mrs Mensa said.

In their contributions, a Deputy General Secretary of the NDC, Barbara Asamoah, Director of Elections of the CPP, Habib Yakubu, and other political party representatives commended the EC for the conduct of the peaceful elections.  

Review of Election 2024

Mrs Mensa said the EC had begun a comprehensive review of the 2024 general election, with a focus on identifying areas for improvement.

The review process , she said, would involve a bottom-up approach, starting from field offices and district offices, and moving up to the regional level.

The EC Chairperson said the Commission would also meet with regional heads in the coming days to undertake a thorough examination and assessment of the elections.

She further announced plans to hold another important meeting in the coming weeks to discuss the elections and chart a way forward for future polls.

That meeting, Mrs Mensa said, would bring together stakeholders, including political parties, CSOs and the media, to review the elections and identify areas for improvement.

This review, she said, would cover all aspects of the electoral process -- from registration to declaration -- with the goal of identifying lessons learnt and areas for improvement.