Ghana Police Supervise Destruction of Defaced Ballot Papers in Eastern Region
The Ghana Police Service and the Eastern Regional Elections Security Taskforce oversaw the destruction of defaced ballot papers in the Eastern Region on Tuesday, December 3, 2024. The move followed the Electoral Commission’s (EC) recall of the ballots due to a security breach involving broken seals.
The destruction, conducted under strict supervision, was monitored by election officials, security personnel, and representatives of various political parties, including the National Democratic Congress (NDC), New Patriotic Party (NPP), and the Convention People’s Party (CPP).
Eastern Regional EC Director, John Appiah Baffour, commended the process, describing it as transparent and orderly.
“The exercise has been very successful. We brought all the parties together… They checked the seals of the ballot paper bags and saw that everything was intact before we offloaded them and burned them,” Baffour stated.
Despite the smooth conduct of the destruction process, the NDC’s Eastern Regional Secretary, Baba Jamal Konneh, expressed concerns over the lack of official communication about the exercise. He revealed that the party only became aware of the planned destruction through an internal leak.
“They never communicated to us officially… It was one of their officers who leaked the information to us. But I told [the EC regional director] that we are not going to accept the ballot papers being left at the police station,” Konneh said.
The NDC has vowed to maintain strict vigilance during the upcoming general elections to ensure a fair and transparent process.
Special Voting in the Eastern and Western Regions, except for Afram Plains North and South constituencies, was suspended as part of the EC’s response to the ballot irregularities. The recall and subsequent destruction of the ballots were measures to preserve the integrity of the electoral process.
The EC’s actions, combined with the oversight of security agencies, aim to restore public confidence in the election. However, the concerns raised underscore the importance of effective communication and collaboration among stakeholders in managing election processes.
This development highlights the critical need for transparency and vigilance as Ghana prepares for its December 7 general elections.
