The involvement of various actors in Ghana’s electoral processes until the final declaration of results makes the Electoral Commission (EC) the most transparent public institution, Mr. Francis Osei-Nsiah, the Ashanti Regional Director of the EC, has argued.
He said elections at the polling station are supervised by temporary staff under the eagle eyes of political party agents and other independent observers, with staff of the Commission having little to do with the outcome of the process.
“Arguably, we are first when it comes to transparency,” he told participants of a media capacity building training organised by the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) in Kumasi.
Mr. Osei-Nsiah also made the point that election results are the product of other people and that the Commissioner was the last to see the results in the case of presidential elections.
“We recruit people from the community, and they will do the election for us, collate the results before they give us the results for declaration,” he justified why the EC remains the most transparent institution.
The training, which was funded by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) of the United Kingdom, sought to enhance the capacity and understanding of the media on the electoral processes to ensure fact-based reporting and programming.
The idea was to provide a platform for the EC to engage journalists on the electoral processes ahead of the general election.
“Enhancing Media Capacity for Fact-based Reporting and Countering Election-Related Mis/Disinformation,” was the theme for the training.
Participants were taken through the processes leading to election of parliamentarians and a president, including recruitment and training of temporary staff, registration of eligible voters, demarcation/delimitation of electoral boundaries, exhibition of provisional register as well as election day and post- election activities.
The Regional Director of EC underscored the need for journalists to understand the electoral rules, regulations and processes to be able to counter deliberate attempts to discredit to work of the EC, which is more participatory and transparent.
The media, he noted, must not be used as conduit for any mishap as the election approached and charged the participants to show the way for others to emulate.
He was hopeful that beneficiaries of the training would help sanitise the media landscape with accurate reportage on election-related issues, having been equipped with the right information.
“I believe and trust that as you leave here every participant is going to report accurately when it comes to electoral issues either within the region or across the country,” he stated.
Mr. Daniel Kwame Ampofo Adjei, Institutional Development, Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Manager, MFWA, said for the election to be peaceful and successful, the role of the media could not be ruled out.
He said the media served as an interface between citizens and candidates because they provided them the platform to speak to the citizens and also received feedback from citizens through the same platform.
“If the media misfires, we are in trouble just as was witnessed in other African countries and there is evidence to show that if the media doesn’t get it right it can plunge the country into trouble,” he cautioned.
He acknowledged that most of the participants had a lot of experience in election reporting, but it was important to refresh their knowledge especially in an ever-changing environment driven by technology.
He entreated journalists not to be participants in misinforming the public, but rather partake in correcting the narratives and ensuring that there was information hygiene in the media space.
GNA
