We can’t come for IPAC meetings that give Akua Donkor and Kofi Akpaloo same voting rights as NDC – Sammy Gyamfi

Communications Officer for the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Sammy Gyamfi has defended reasons provided by the party on boycotting Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) meetings held after the 2020 general elections.

Speaking to JoyNews’ Emefa Apawu on Top Story, Mr Gyamfi made mention that the NDC cannot partake in an event with political parties that are compromised by the EC.

He added that the fact that the biggest political parties are given the same voting rights as smaller parties, is another disincentive.

“If we had participated in this meeting, let me tell you what would have happened. We would have gone there, we would have stated our counter proposals and our positions on the proposals they have made. They would have dismissed it anyway or they would have subjected it to a vote and political parties which did not even participate in the 2020 elections were going to be called upon to vote on, those proposals.

“And these are mushroom political parties…some of whom don’t even have offices in this country but have been recruited by Jean Mensa and the NPP to do their bidding at IPAC. We are saying that we can’t come for a deliberation on reforms for the 2024 elections where Akua Donkor and Kofi Akpaloo will have the same voting rights,” he said.

He stated that unlike the NDC and NPP with strong representations in Parliament with many offices across the county, these “mushroom political parties” are barely organised enough at IPAC meetings to present formidable ideas.

“In fact, we have attended IPAC meetings where you go and you have representations of these mushroom parties fighting among themselves that ‘we don’t know you. You are not a member of our party.’ And another person comes to say ‘We know you, we rather have the authority to represent our party’. The whole thing is a charade,” he stated.

According to him, this does not make IPAC the appropriate platform to have a candid assessment of the 2020 elections and come up with reforms.

Mr Gyamfi is of the opinion that political parties who did not partake in the just-ended elections should not be given the platform to present reform proposals.

“Where in the world have you seen an electoral management body inviting political parties that did not take part in an election to review that election? Check, about six of the political parties that attended this two-day workshop signed the communiqué which has been issued like ULP, UDPS and all that. These are not political parties that participated in the elections. These are not political parties we know in this country,” he said.

For Mr Gyamfi, the current Electoral Commission led by Jean Mensa is straying away from the norms and practice set up by her predecessors by providing these political parties individual voices in decion making processes.

“During the tenure of Dr Afari Gyan, when the processes for biometric register was rolled up, a Committee was put up and the NDC and NPP had one representation each, all other small political parties were given one representation.

“So this is not a new phenomenon we are talking about. That has been the arrangement under the Afari Gyan led Electoral Commission and Charlotte Osei led Electoral Commission. It is this current Electoral Commission that has changed that system and had introduced a system that is self-serving….They subject those proposals to a vote and these mushroom political parties who do not even participate in the elections, are giving the same voting right as the NDC which has 136 Parliamentary seats just like the NPP. This is not done anywhere,” he explained.