The Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) is not a proper forum any longer under the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission, Jean Mensah, leading to mistrust between political parties and the EC, General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mr. Johnson Aseidu Nketia has said.
According to Mr Nketia, the EC under Mrs Jean Mensa does not listen to IPAC’s advice on election matters.
“IPAC is not a proper forum any longer. It has ceased to be the IPAC under Charlotte Osei, the IPAC under Afari Gyan, it is now Jean Mensa’s IPAC and Jean Mensa has decided that IPAC should be a means of just electoral commission informing parties what they have decided to do,” he stated.
Speaking on the mistrust between the EC and political parties on the Class Morning Show on Class91.3FM on Tuesday, 9 August 2022, said “the problem is not even with NPP, the problem is with Jean Mensa and the EC.”
He explained that “When the afrobarometer survey findings came out and the national security strategy document also identified this mistrust, there are institutions in this country which have taken it upon themselves to try and do something… one key institution which has the mandate make peace in the country is the Ghana peace council, they wrote to us to meet us to discuss with the electoral commission with the hope that the IPAC will return to its original mandate.”
He continued that “we met them, they listened to us, we put our case across and we got the belief that they were convinced by the argument we had made so they indicated that they will organise a series of meetings. One, they wanted us to meet with the leadership of the New Patriotic Party and let us listen to these arguments, and then when NPP is convinced, then they will move to talk to the electoral commission, then after meeting with the electoral commission then all of us will meet again and then they ensure we get a solution.
“So after the exclusive meeting with NDC, they went and did an exclusive meeting with NPP and then the next stage was to meet NDC and NPP and we have since met and the meeting was wonderful, everybody understood the point that was being made, then the peace council promised that the next stage is for them to meet the electoral commission after that engagement then all of us will meet and resolve this problem but for close to nine months now the peace council has not been granted an audience by the chairperson of the electoral commission. Peace council has been denied an audience with madam Jean Mensa as we speak now,” he bemoaned.
He said other civil society organisations have all tried to have an audience, especially over the use of Ghana card as the only identity document for voter registration with Mrs. Mensa but have been unsuccessful.
