Some political parties are pointing accusing fingers at Ghana’s Electoral Commission (EC) for treating their concerns with contempt. Parties, including the National Democratic Congress, the New Patriotic Party, Democratic Freedom Party and Convention People’s Party, are saying if the EC had listened to certain trepidations raised by them, situations would have been better. Prince-Derek Adjei, National Youth Organizer of the Democratic Freedom Party, took issues to the doorstep of the EC Boss, asking Dr. Afari Gyan to “humble himself”. He was obviously not enthused about the conduct and posture of some officials at the EC and their “unwillingness” to implement suggestions from political parties. “I say with deep regret that whilst Inter Party Advisory Committee gives good advice, the Commission fails to take it,” he remarked on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show on Monday. Mr. Adjei called for an amendment to the Act that established the Electoral Commission, apparently, to reduce the powers of the Commission and its Chairman. Even though he supported the independence of the EC, he thought it is wielding too much power, adding, “They are more like God unto themselves”. He advised the Commission to put contingency plan in place for subsequent exercises to forestall any unforeseen mishaps. According to Samuel Ofosu Ampofo of the National Democratic Congress, the EC has not been “accommodating” to issues raised by the NDC. “I am very disappointed in the EC…we saw the danger coming and we were described as raising red flags…When we meet at IPAC, at times we want to offer useful suggestions but the way the Chairman will behave and will react to some of the concerns, he doesn’t seem to be accommodating.” William Dowokpor, Convention People’s Party Member of Parliament for Ayawaso West Wuogon Constituency, said because the EC is widely sought after by some countries, it is acting as if “they were on top of things”, adding this has made them “complacent”. He asked the EC, as a matter of urgency, deploy security personnel who are “fair and no-partisan” to the electoral areas to ensure sanity in the registration process. Story by Isaac Essel