Security analyst, Col. Festus Aboagye has accused Ghana's political actors and their organizations of evolving into criminal enterprises bent on seizing power at any cost.

According to him, the desperate pursuit of power at all costs has corrupted political systems, undermined democratic processes, and eroded public trust.

Speaking on JoyNews' Newsfile on Saturday on recent electoral controversies, Col. Aboagye argued that the actions of political parties and the lapses in electoral governance reflect deliberate attempts to manipulate outcomes.

"Our political actors and the organizations they belong to have become criminal organizations or criminal enterprises who are seeking power at all costs no matter what," he stated.

He linked this assertion to irregularities observed during the collation of results in some constituencies during the December 7 general elections, describing the practices as not just failures of governance but clear signs of criminal intent.

Col. Aboagye highlighted the Electoral Commission’s (EC) decision to move the collation of results for four constituencies in the Eastern region to the Tesano Police Training School in Accra.

This, he noted, directly violates Constitutional Instrument (CI) 127, which mandates that results be collated at the constituency level.

“All the discussions that I've heard emphasize that there is no provision in CI 127 that allows the EC to move the collation of constituency results outside of the constituency," he stated.

He noted that the National Democratic Congress had contested the legality of this action, denying claims that it agreed to the relocation.

"Something is not right," Col. Aboagye stated, calling into question the integrity of the entire process.

Referring to campaign statements from the New Patriotic Party Parliamentary Candidate for Dome Kwabenya, Mike Oquaye Jnr. which emphasized a “strategy” for securing victory, Col. Aboagye speculated that disruptions such as power outages and commotions at collation centres could be premeditated tactics to create opportunities for tampering with electoral materials.

He argued that reports of missing pink sheets, destroyed ballot boxes, and pre-printed ballot papers further fueled his concerns.

Col Aboagye also criticized the EC for failing to ensure transparency in the collation process.

He pointed out that CI 127 requires pink sheets, which detail polling station results, to be displayed on public notice boards for verification. However, this protocol has not been consistently followed.

"If that had been done, I am sure several individuals, would have gone there to photograph the pink sheets. So far, I have not seen any pink sheet on my phone.

“The EC is not accepting responsibility that its own presiding officers violated that principle. If the pink sheets had been pasted in public places, we would have had some way of finding what data was entered on these pink sheets. So in a way, the EC has failed," he noted.

He argued that the EC must take responsibility for these lapses and address them to restore public confidence in the electoral process.