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Minority: EC to create 25 new constituencies …But EC denies taking decision on number

The First Deputy Minority Chief Whip in Parliament, Ahmed Ibrahim has accused the presidency of influencing the Electoral Commission (EC) to create 25 new constituencies ahead of the 2020 elections.

He alleged that the move to give the New Patriotic Party to win more seats as their stronghold will benefit more from the intended regions with the Ashanti Region obtaining 17 out of the 25 new constituencies to be created.

However, the EC has stated that the creation of new constituencies was on its agenda but denied reports a decision had been taken on 25 additional constituencies and were lies and inaccurate.

Mrs Jean Mensa, Chairperson of the EC dismissed it as a total fabrication saying “that’s a total lie, it has not come up, we have seen reports in public domain, we can say this is not coming from the commission, since it has not met to consider is, although it is an issue on its EC agenda, it’s a mandate of the commission, but the figures and information put out are not true and we ask the public to disregard it.

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“It’s an issue on the agenda, a mandate of the commission, it is always on front burner but to be honest this has not even been discussed, it has nothing to do with creation of new regions, at the moment we are busy setting up offices, that is what is before us.

“Although the creation of new constituencies is a mandate of the commission, it is not something that is occupying us at the moment, the EC is assessing if there’s a need for creating additional constituencies and the public will be notified when the exercise is completed,” Mrs Mensa assured.

According to Mr Ibrahim, “the Asawase constituency in the Ashanti Region, which is being occupied by the Minority Chief Whip, Alhaji Mohammed-Mubarak Muntaka, of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), will be split into new constituencies, the remaining 12 will be distributed to other regions, including the six newly created regions for the 2020 elections.

“The Bimbila constituency in the Northern Region, which is currently held by Dominic Nitiwul, Minister of Defence, will also be divided into two constituencies, Bimbila South and North” Mr Ibrahim stated, adding that “the Parliament House cannot accommodate the new numbers.

“Before 2018, when the issue about Charlotte Osei, former Chairperson of the EC, became topical, I indicated clearly that the faceless people who asked for her to leave will make some demands. The presidency has an agenda against the NDC and has asked the EC to create new and additional 25 constituencies to disadvantage others.

“There is a plan for a new parliamentary chamber to be constructed and has been budgeted for but for now, where will the extra 25 MPs sit when new constituencies are created? Very soon, we’ll be told that citizens have petitioned and have asked for the creation of new constituencies and it must happen. We are all in this country, we’ll see what happens,” Mr Ibrahim pointed out.

He cautioned the Electoral Commission against creating new constituencies in the lead-up to the 2020 general election because they had credible information which suggests that the EC intends increasing the number of Parliamentarians to 300.

“NDC should not think Nana Akufo-Addo is thinking about free and fair elections. All he’s thinking about is rigging, it is clear. Look at the chamber, even with 275 MPs, there’s no space and you are thinking of creating an additional 25 seats. Very soon there’ll be declaration by EC to create an additional 25 seats; that is the NPP’s agenda” Mr Ahmed bemoaned. -starrfmonline.com

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