Source: newsthemegh.com
Sammy Gyamfi, the NDC’s director of communications, has come under fire from the Electoral Commission (EC), which labeled him and his party as having a proclivity for undermining the commission’s credibility.
The EC claims that Sammy Gyamfi’s recent assertions regarding the upcoming Assin North by-election are “baseless and unfounded.” Therefore, it requested that Ghanaians disregard it.
Prior to the June 27 by-election, the Commission advised Sammy Gyamfi to go out and canvass support for his party.
This was stated in a statement that the Public Affairs Department both signed and released.
Statement Below:
Over the years, Sammy Gyamfi and his party have spread untrue allegations meant to defame the EC’s integrity. Their petition to the Supreme Court following the 2020 elections, in which they claimed to have won the elections, made this clear.
It is commonly known that they were unable to back their claims with proof in court. Nothing different about the present accusation. It is a fabrication of the National Communication Officer, wholly unjustified and without foundation. All well-meaning Ghanaians are urged to disregard it.
Ghana’s democracy has matured, and we urge Sammy Gyamfi to speak honestly, maturely, and with decorum when he discusses the EC. We kindly request that he leave the EC alone and go out and campaign.
The statement, dated 6 June 2023, was made in response to Sammy Gyamfi’s earlier response to the commission’s statement that, in accordance with Article 94 of the 1992 Constitution, a person is eligible to run as a candidate for a parliamentary election if they are registered voters, at least 21 years old, are from or have lived in the constituency for a total of five (5) years in the ten (10) years prior to the election they wish to run in, or both.
According to the Commission, the Nomination Form only requires people nominating a candidate for a parliamentary election in a Constituency to be registered voters in that Constituency, not the candidate who is being nominated to run.
“To be eligible to run for office in a constituency, a candidate need only be a native of or currently reside in that constituency. To paraphrase Sammy Gyamfi, “that would be absurd, unreasonable, illogical, and unconstitutional if one should interpret what is stated on the Parliamentary Nomination Form to imply that the candidate must also be a registered voter in the same Constituency,” the EC argued.
The EC revealed that “the NDC Candidate for the recent By-Election Mr. Kwasi Amankwaa is not a registered voter in the Kumawu Constituency” for “the information of the general public.” He is a registered voter in the Greater Accra Region’s Ayawaso West Wuogon Constituency, but because he is a native of that area, he ran in the Kumawu By-Election. Why wasn’t this matter brought up by the NDC before the Kumawu Constituency By-Election?
The claim made by Sammy Gyamfi that the EC is collaborating with the NPP to secretly register a voter in Assin North is FALSE still stands as a matter of truth. It is false, and we ask Sammy Gyamfi to demonstrate it.