The Coalition of Domestic Election Observers (CODEO) released its Preliminary Report on the just-ended nationwide Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) exercise conducted by the Electoral Commission (EC) earlier this week.
The report covered Phases 4, 5, and 6 and the two-day mop-up exercise carried out at the various district offices of the EC.
From the report, CODEO noted that stationed security personnel were absent in a significant number of registration centres they observed and raised concerns about the trend.
According to the election observers, most security personnel were positioned at supposed hotspots whilst other areas were left unattended to. They argued that it was dangerous for the EC to selectively position security personnel because violence and misunderstandings could erupt anywhere.
The EC reacting to the report have also noted that they had security personnel stationed at all registration centres. The Commission explained that the security personnel were mainly clad in plain clothes and could understand why the election observers missed them.
With this explanation from the EC, a section of the public has criticized CODEO claiming they refused to do their due diligence before making their report public.
The National Coordinator for CODEO, Albert Arhin has however asserted that the election observing body never meant to discredit the work of the EC with their report.
In an interview on the Happy Morning Show with Happy 98.9 FM’s Samuel Eshun, he said, “We complement the work and efforts of the EC. Our report stems from our genuine observations and that is what we want to draw attention to.”
He indicated that CODEO was not in the business of dragging the good name of the EC through the mud. And emphasized on the fact that the report generally commended the EC for the smooth mass registration exercise over the past six weeks.
CODEO commended all its observers who contributed to the successful observation of the voter registration exercise and acknowledged the support of the STAR-Ghana Foundation for the
observation of the exercise.
By: Joel Sanco
