Dr. Kwadwo Afari-Gyan, Chairman of the Electoral Commission (EC) on Wednesday cautioned senior officers of the Commission to be wary of politicians who might want to use them for undeserved advantages during the 2012 General election.
The EC Chairman, who gave the warning at a- three-day training for Deputy Regional Directors of the Commission drawn from all the regions, in Ho, said: “There is no protocol recruitment or allocation in election”.
The training, which is under the auspices of the Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA), also known as International IDEA is to ensure integrity in elections.
Dr. Afari-Gyan said: “We are all fallible but people shouldn’t use you to do wrong” and urged electoral officers to apply the tenets of integrity in every circumstance and develop acceptable behaviours within the context of the profession.
The EC chairman said he was hopeful that Election 2012 would be successful and the country would become a case study for others in view of the fact that a verification system would be used.
He said the ideal condition for achieving free and fair elections was integrity across board and called for support from all.
Mr Theophilus Dowetin, West Africa Program Manager for International IDEA, told the GNA that the group had developed an election integrity curriculum to help “strengthen elections” worldwide and that Ghana was the first country benefiting from the curriculum.
“Successful elections go beyond operational parts of elections to election environment and key players and we hope this course will help strengthen elections around the globe,” he said.
Source: GhanaWeb
