PRESS RELEASE
TO: ALL MEDIA HOUSES
DATE:13 TH OCTOBER, 2024
AFRICAN ELECTORAL INSTITUTE APPEALS TO THE ELECTORAL COMMISSION TO PAY ITS TEMPORAL OFFICERS PROMPTLY TO ATTRACT MORE EXPERIENCED AND COMMITTED OFFICIALS
The African Electoral Institute has gathered and verified that the EC Ghana has not paid any of the exhibition officials who worked for it during the Exhibition Exercise held in August 2024. The African Electoral Institute (AEI) as part of its advocacy for efficient electoral systems which are critical for free, fair and credible elections, wish to appeal to the Electoral Commission of Ghana to ensure that its temporal or contract staff or officials are paid promptly for services rendered to make it unattractive for any of them to accept money or any form of gift from anyone or any source which has the potential or possibility of influencing the way they do their work .
- African Electoral Institute is of the view that the current system of payment adopted by the Electoral Commission where their temporal or contract staff are paid per electoral exercise is good. However, the delays in effecting payments, which sometimes goes beyond three months or more, makes the contract job unattractive to most people who may be better placed or have the expertise to do the work as expected to offer themselves for the opportunity .
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In the opinion of the African Electoral Institute, the delay in payment of such staff leaves them financially handicapped and vulnerable and therefore could be manipulated or enticed with money to compromise their work which may lead to misunderstandings that if not handled promptly and professionally, could put the electoral process in jeopardy .
- The AEI believes that if the contract staff are paid promptly, it will make the work attractive to people with the requisite qualifications and experience to offer themselves for such jobs during any electoral process, for a smooth and successful outcome.
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That, by making the contract job financially attractive, the Electoral Commission can draw members from professional bodies such as the Ghana Bar Association, Medical Association, teacher associations such as GNAT and NAGRAT, Statisticians, Accountants and so on . Such professional individuals coming onboard can help reduce inefficiencies and suspicions during elections.
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African Electoral Institute, encourages the Electoral Commission to emulate Institutions such as the Ghana Statistical Service and others who promptly pay their field officials using mobile money platforms like Momo and G- Money in this regard
In conclusion, the AEI lauds the Electoral Commission for its resolve to introduce more innovative solutions in its work. AEI encourages them not to relent since the ultimate goal for them is to always organize elections, which outcome will be seen to be free, fair, transparent, accountable, and acceptable by all electoral stakeholders. The Electoral Commission should, therefore, be proactive and innovative in all their dealings in organizing elections in a free, fair, and transparent manner.
-END-
SIGNED
Joshua Adjin-Adjin Tettey
Director of Communications and External Relations*
0540904550
Ex. WO Alhaji Yussif Mahamah
Electoral Security Department
0243311965
Engr. Judge Hasford Quartey
Deputy Director of Communications and External Relations.
0547510174
About Us:
African Electoral Institute ( AEI) is a Civil Society Organisation (CSO) founded to deliver sustainable electoral solutions to Emerging and Developed Democracies to strengthen, augment, and build electoral stakeholders capacity and participation on electoral issues through electoral education on voter’s rights and freedom, electoral research, election monitoring, election observation, election results collation, election security awareness and training of polling agents and elections directors underscoring the fact that “elections are won at the polling stations’’ and the participation of all identifiable electoral stakeholders in an electoral process such as Political Parties, Governmental Institutions, underpinning transparency and accountability for a free, fair, and credible elections in Africa and the wider world.
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