The Coalition of Civil Society Organisations for Transparent Elections (COCTE) has expressed concern once more about the Electoral Commission’s (EC) refusal to grant Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) accreditation to observe the upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections.
The Executive Director of Care for Free and Fair Elections Ghana, a non-governmental organisation, David Kumi Addo, at a press conference in Accra on Wednesday, December 4, 2024, declared that they will still go ahead to observe the elections with or without accreditation from the EC.
Mr. Addo, the Coordinator of the Coalition of CSOs for Transparent Elections, stated that COCTE will observe the elections independently even if accreditation is denied.
He criticised the EC, claiming that the Commission, which is incapable of performing simple calculations, is denying public participation and civic oversight.
He said in line with ensuring the credibility of the elections, they have launched Poll Watch, a mobile app, on December 2, 2024.
The app would enable citizens to track and validate election outcomes by providing access to real-time, independently collated results.
He revealed that they have put together an APK app that will interact with the general public and the CSOs about the elections by publishing certified results from the various locations across the country.
Mr. Kumi Addo stated that its independent power voter tabulation is intended to promote transparency and accountability, as well as to ensure that everyone accepts the election results.
‘’Even though we have been denied accreditation, we’ve put together an app that is called Poll Watch. This app is supposed to interact with the general public and the CSOs… We are also going to observe the elections whether we get accreditation or not. We will observe the elections. We are telling Jean Mensa that we will observe the elections with or without an accreditation from the EC,’’ he stressed.
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
