Afari Gyan advises NDC to return to IPAC

A former Chairman of the Electoral Commission, Dr Kwadwo Afari Gyan, advised the opposition National Democratic Congress, NDC to end its hiatus from the Inter-Party Advisory Committee, IPAC. The former EC boss made the appeal during an address to the NDC Lawyers Association at Akosombo in the Volta Region.

According to Afari Gyan, the NDC stands to benefit from being members of the committee than it does from its boycott. He thus appealed to the party to rescind the decision that saw it boycott the activities of IPAC since 2021.

“The IPAC makes it possible for political parties to know and make inputs to the important thing the Electoral Commission is doing at any point in time. It makes it possible to discuss the concerns of the parties and makes it possible to contribute to the making of subsidiary legislation. I will appeal to the NDC to go back,” Afari Gyan stated.

“Don’t worry if your ideas are not adopted, please go there and make your ideas felt. Indeed, in some cases, IPAC is the forum for stakeholder dialogue towards achieving common ownership of the electoral system. Under Ghana’s electoral system, there are many opportunities for political parties to participate in electoral processes that promote free and fair elections,” he noted according to the Graphic.

Background of NDC’s boycott

Following the conclusion of the 2020 general elections which saw the NDC challenge the results at the Supreme Court, the party decided to boycott the IPAC meetings. In April 2021, the NDC released a statement explaining that it had turned down an invitation for an IPAC meeting. It said the decision was reached due to the “open bias” that the EC Chairperson led against the NDC.

“The National Democratic Congress (NDC), declined an invitation by the Electoral Commission of Ghana to attend an IPAC meeting to review the 2020 Parliamentary and Presidential Elections which was scheduled for Wednesday 21st April 2021. The party took this decision because of the lack of candour, odious duplicity, and open bias that was displayed by the Jean Mensah-led Electoral Commission in favour of the New Patriotic Party in the conduct of the 2020 general elections.”

Justifying its decision, the NDC said, “…the current leadership of the Electoral Commission who supervised the manipulation of the 2020 general elections and the stolen verdict that resulted from same, lack the integrity, credibility and impartiality to lead any such discussions or review of the very elections they rigged.”