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EC holds consultative forum on ROPAA in Bono Region

A Commissioner of the Electoral Commission (EC), Mrs Adwoa Abrefa Asuama has explained that to build trust among the populace, activities of the EC must always inspire confidence in the people.

“To build trust, the EC must demonstrate that the elections are for Ghanaians and not for political parties, she noted.

Mrs Asuamah was speaking in Sunyani yesterday during the ongoing regional consultative engagement on the implementation of the Representation of the People’s Amendment Act (ROPAA) in the Bono Region.

The forum which was attended by various stakeholders such as the clergy, traditional authorities, and political parties also included representatives from the newly created Ahafo and Bono-East regions respectively.

Dr Bossman Asare, Deputy Chairman of the EC noted that the implementation of ROPAA had become mandatory following years of agitations and legal battles amidst arguments by the EC that there were  no resources to implement it, until the Human Rights Division of the Accra High Court, in December 2017, gave the EC one year ultimatum to implementation.

He explained that the ongoing consultative fora by the EC was aimed at ensuring that all issues relating to ROPAA are dealt with before its actual implementations.

Dr Asare said, ROPAA was not intended to create problems for Ghanaians living abroad as well as breaking the laws of such countries to give a bad name for our country.

While some of the participants were of the view that ROPAA implementation should be limited to only the presidential election at least for now, others also explained that there was the need for mutual trust to be built among the various political parties to ensure successful implementation of ROPAA.

FROM DANIEL DZIRASAH, SUNYANI

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