The Electoral Commission has dismissed claims that the Kenyan electoral dispute could rear its head in the country. The Director of Elections at the EC, Albert Kofi Arhin told Joy News that the EC’s processes and systems, which integrate political parties and boast of a 15-year-record, are so transparent and verifiable that there should be no cause for alarm. The Director was reacting to fears by the opposition National Democratic Congress, NDC and other minority parties that the Kenyan election confusion that has so far seen hundreds dead, could be replicated in Ghana if care was not taken. On Wednesday, the NDC urged the EC and all interested in a peaceful poll to ensure that the system was rid of machinations that could cast doubts about the Ghanaian process. Mr. Arhin however maintained that there was no basis relating Ghanaian elections to what has happened in Kenya and assured that the EC will continue to make political parties integral part of its processes to ensure confidence in the process. He said while it is difficult to ensure a foolproof elections, the EC has laid down procedures for verifying complaints and will not sit down unconcerned for the wrong decisions to be imposed in any poll. “I’m saying this because right from the time the ballot is printed, it is monitored by the parties, they take the serial numbers of the ballot papers. The agents, when the balloting is going on the agents of the parties are there, they look at what is going on, they are given records of the results.” Reminded that Kenya has previously held elections that were highly acclaimed by the international community, Mr. Arhin said that may be true, however certain unfortunate events that may have contributed to the present dispute can never happen in Ghana. “Can you imagine people counting ballots who decide to go and sleep and come back again to continue, do you think we can have that in this country? The way we go about our things here where sometimes we even show our ballot paper to someone standing in the queue somewhere or in a crowd, for his approval, you see the transparency of our system here we cannot compare that to what is happening in Kenya.” Mr. Arhin urged utmost care in comparing the Ghanaian situation to the Kenyan disputed poll since the political terrain and systems are not the same. “In Kenya for example, there may be more than 20 Electoral Commissioners, some of them even representing political parties who may have their interests, tribal, personal and that kind of thing, you see, I’m not sure Kenya has even got this IPAC, (Inter-Party Advisory Committee) that we have here, where there is dialogue between the Electoral Commission and the parties every now and then. Ghana’s Ambassador to Serbia and Montenegro, Dr. Nyaho Nyaho Tamakloe, also disagreed with the NDC’s concerns and told Joy News that the NDC’s flag bearer, Prof. J.E.A. Mills would lose votes in the 2008 elections for the unfortunate comments. He said at least Ghana has an independent Electoral Commission and judiciary, plus a vibrant political culture that would make it virtually impossible for any party to rig an election to the magnitude alleged to have taken place in Kenya. “They are very serious comments, coming from a presidential candidate of a political party. What I think Mills has forgotten is that we have existing structures in place in Ghana as for instance we have an independent and transparent EC, we have also an independent judiciary and we have a vibrant political culture. This alone in place definitely will not make it possible for anyone to rig an election to the level of what we have in Kenya.”