The Electoral Commission of Ghana (EC) has clarified that it does not handle security during elections or ensure a peaceful electoral process.
Chairperson of the EC, Jean Mensa, emphasized that while the commission often faces expectations to maintain peace, security is not within their mandate.
Speaking before Parliament on Friday, July 19, 2024, she outlined that the responsibility for security falls solely on the Ghana Police Service.
“It is important to note that whilst we engage under the platform of the election security task force at all levels—national, regional, and district—the Electoral Commission is not responsible for security.
“Very often we’ve heard that the Electoral Commission is responsible for security, and we’d like to emphasize that this is a mandate for the security agencies.”
“What we do is collaborate with them and provide them with details of all our centers, provide them with details of printing arrangements to enable them to work with us and protect the ballot, especially when we are transporting these ballots to the regions.
“The police have full responsibility for security before, during, and after the elections. And they take all their security decisions without recourse to the Electoral Commission,” she stated.
She assured that the EC is committed to ensuring transparent and credible elections.
“From the registration to the declaration, our processes are embedded with one key ingredient, and that is transparency, transparency, transparency. As such, we will continue to operate in the spirit of transparency, fairness, and integrity as embedded in our motto,” she said.