The President of IMANI Africa, Franklin Cudjoe, has expressed disappointment in the Electoral Commission (EC) for denying that the people of Santrokofi, Apkafu, Lolobi and Lipke (SALL) were disenfranchised during the 2020 parliamentary elections.

According to Mr. Cudjoe, the EC is being brazenly dishonest.

In a statement shared on his Facebook page, the IMANI Africa President explained that “It is a matter of public record that in the evening of 6th December 2020, the Electoral Commission issued a public statement to the effect that voters in the SALL Traditional areas could not vote in the Parliamentary elections scheduled for 7th December 2020.”

His comment comes hours after the EC rubbished earlier allegations he made to the effect that SALL residents were disenfranchised in 2020.

In a statement released on Wednesday, May 15, the EC described the statement by Mr. Cudjoe as “false and without basis.”

The EC’s seven-point clarification outlined that, it adhered to all legal procedures in the creation of the newly established Guan Constituency and did not disenfranchise any residents in the process.

“It is unfortunate that IMANI continues to peddle falsehood and untruths about the Commission at every point and turn. His [Franklin Cudjoe’s] narrative that the Commission disenfranchised the people of SALL, now the Guan Constituency, is FALSE. We urge the public to verify information put out by IMANI, with the Commission for the truth and the facts” the statement added.

But Franklin Cudjoe insists the people of SALL do not have representation in the 8th Parliament of the 4th Republic; the proof that they were disenfranchised.

“It is brazenly dishonest on the part of the Electoral Commission to refer to my statement about the people of SALL being disenfranchised as “falsehood and misinformation” or “falsehood and untruths about the Commission”. None of the so-called “facts surrounding the inability of the residents of SALL now the Guan Constituency, to vote in the 2020 Parliamentary Election” that are recited in the 14th May 2024 statement of the Electoral Commission, can take away the simple, indisputable fact that, on the eve of the 2020 elections, the Electoral Commission publicly announced that the people of SALL could not vote in the Parliamentary election.

“The people of SALL were, therefore, disenfranchised and are not represented in the 8th Parliament of the 4th Republic,” he added.

Franklin Cudjoe further stressed that the current development highlights "the gross incompetence of the Jean Mensa-led Electoral Commission".

"I have no doubt that the people of Ghana will not be hoodwinked by the brazen dishonesty of the Electoral Commission nor will they allow such brazen dishonesty and gross incompetence to stand in the way of our democracy.

"The unconstitutional and illegal actions of the Commission must be constantly exposed for the sake of upholding our democracy and we will not relent in our commitment to doing just that," he wrote.