Election petition: Stay calm, we will rid Jean Mensah’s EC of prejudices – NDC to supporters | Politics

The National Democratic Congress (NDC) has pledged to ensure that the Election Commission headed by Jean Mensah sheds the “prejudices and partisan prejudices“it has been coated, so that transparency is implemented in the next elections.

The opposition party, while urging its supporters to “keep calm and resolute“, also instructed the Supreme Court to”defend and promote probity, accountability and transparency, and give effect to the will of the people expressed on December 7, 2020, “ as the summit gives a final petition decision for the presidential election on Thursday, March 4.

“… as Ghanaians await the Supreme Court’s verdict on the election petition, the NEC urges all NDC members and supporters to remain calm and resolute. It is the prayer of the NEC that the Supreme Court supports and promotes probity, accountability and transparency, and gives effect to the will of the people expressed on December 7, 2020 in its judgment on the matter. The party, for its part, will stop at nothing to rid the Electoral Commission headed by Jean Mensah of its partisan biases and prejudices, and ensure transparency and fairness in national elections.The NDC said in a statement signed by its secretary general, Johnson Asiedu Nketia, following a meeting of the National Emergency Executive Committee (NDC) held on Monday.

The statement stated that the NEC “meeting discussed a wide range of pressing issues of national concern<<, including the ongoing verification of ministerial nominations, a recent letter to the media written on behalf of the judiciary through its lawyers, [email protected] which aimed to censor their obligation to hold public institutions, including the courts, accountable for their actions.

Read a copy of the statement below

A statement issued following a meeting of the National Emergency Executive Committee (NEC) of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) held on Monday, March 1, 2021.

The National Executive Committee (NEC) of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) held an emergency meeting in Accra on Monday, March 1, 2021. The meeting discussed a wide range of pressing issues of national concern.

1. The meeting discussed, among other things, the ongoing verification of ministerial candidates and urged the CND parliamentary caucus to be firm and resolute in its role on the Nominating Committee. He urged them to reject the insincere apologies offered by some of the candidates for the Audit Commission meetings and to hold them accountable for their actions and / or statements that violate the obligations imposed on public office holders by the 1992 Constitution.

2. In addition, the meeting of the CNE noted with concern the clandestine activities of certain security agencies which have engaged in the arbitrary and malicious arrest and detention of citizens for exercising their right to freedom of expression on them. social networks. He urged Ghanaians to rise up against the rampant culture of silence and dictatorship imposed on the nation.

3. * NEC noted with concern the letter written on behalf of the Ghana Judicial Service through its lawyers, [email protected] to some media houses that sought to censor their obligation to hold public institutions, including the courts, accountable for their actions. We note that the letter from the judicial service aims to limit the right to freedom of expression and freedom of the press to mere praise of the judiciary, even in the face of several unjust rulings of the Supreme Court. NEC believes that the judiciary has neither the right nor the authority to threaten anyone, let alone the media, for the performance of their constitutional functions. There are clear procedures set out in our laws to deal with specific breaches of ethics and media laws. We find the letter from the Judicial Service to be an affront to freedom of speech and freedom of the press which threatens the pillars of democracy that the Ghanaian people have nurtured over the years. We unequivocally condemn it and call on the judiciary to withdraw it without delay, as a sign of respect for the democratic culture of freedom of expression and freedom of the press. *

4. The NEC expects that common sense and love for the country will prevail and that the Akufo-Addo government and other state institutions will now abandon any plans to terrorize the citizens of Ghana in order to suppress dissent and repress the demands for probity and accountability enshrined in the 1992 constitution.

Finally, as Ghanaians await the Supreme Court’s verdict on the election petition, the NEC urges all NDC members and supporters to remain calm and resolute. It is the prayer of the NEC that the Supreme Court uphold and promote probity, accountability and transparency, and give effect to the will of the people expressed on December 7, 2020 in its judgment on the matter. The party, for its part, will stop at nothing to rid the Electoral Commission headed by Jean Mensah of its partisan biases and prejudices, and ensure the transparency and fairness of national elections.

ISSUED IN ACCRA THIS 1ST DAY OF MARCH 2021

Sign,
Hon. JOHNSON ASIEDU-NKETIAH
GENERAL SECRETARY.