Ghana's electoral body says implementing reforms for better elections

Ghana's Electoral Commission (EC) said on Tuesday it had begun implementing a series of reforms aimed at improving the transparency, inclusiveness and credibility of the this year's general election.

The commission has listed 27 reforms, which were the product of a special reform committee it set up to address lapses that came up after the 2012 election.

The 10-member committee was tasked to synthesize the various reforms proposed by the panel of Justices of the Supreme Court and political parties ahead of the 2016 parliamentary and presidential elections.

According to a statement issued by the commission in Accra, the EC accepted all but two of the reforms proposed by the committee.

The two are that membership of the Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) should be expanded to include civil society organizations, and that there should be no voting without biometric verification.

The 27 reform proposals which were accepted include Presidential and Parliamentary elections should be held in November instead of December; EC must do continuous registration as well as periodic registration; and election officials and party agents must take oaths before a magistrate or judicial officer instead of an officer of the commission, among others.

The Commission says the implementation of this comprehensive list of reforms will make the outcome of the 2016 elections credible and acceptable to all the stakeholders involved.

Source: XINHUA