The Member of Parliament for Jaman South Constituency, Col. Kwadwo Damoah, has expressed concern over the delayed election results in Ablekuma North constituency, resulting in Parliament having 275 members instead of the anticipated 276.
Col. Damoah stated that the Electoral Commission has requested security from the Inspector General of Police (IGP) for the declaration of results, but the police have not yet provided the necessary support.
In an interview with Rainbow Radio’s Parliamentary Correspondent, Col. Damoah questioned the police’s inability to provide security for the declaration, given that the National Electoral Security Task Force is chaired by the police.
He noted that the issue has been ongoing since January and that the current IGP has not taken adequate action. Col. Damoah urged the police to prioritise providing security for the declaration of results to ensure the democratic process is completed without further delays.
He emphasised the need for urgent action to resolve the matter, expressing hope for a swift resolution that would enable the Ablekuma North constituency to have its representative in Parliament and ensure the country’s legislative body functions with its full complement of members.
“We are supposed to have a 276-member chamber with 276 MPs. As we speak, we only have 275. We know what happened during the last elections. As far back as January, after the elections in December, we still have some outstanding constituencies for which declarations had not been made. Both parties had to go to court and the court had given orders on these collations and declarations. So the only one outstanding is the Ablekuma North one. The Electoral Commission had written to the Inspector General of Police that they were ready to announce the results and needed security.
With the National Election Security Taskforce, it is the Police that chair the Committee together with the other security services. But for one election and one declaration, we think the Police alone could handle the matter. So we didn’t understand why it had taken so long. Since January up till now, the Police have been unable to provide security. The former IGP declined, and we thought the current one would do something about it, so we took the matter to him just to remind him, in case it was not in his handing over notes.”
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
