"Compared to the two previous leaderships” of the Electoral Commission, “what we have now does not meet even the minimum requirements of neutrality and non-partisanship that are essential for consolidating our democracy," he said in his response to the Supreme Court judgement which dismissed his election petition on Thursday, March 4, 2021.
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Jean Mensa-led EC illegally declared parliamentary seats for NPP - Mahama
John Mahama, the 2020 presidential candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), has alleged that the Electoral Commission (EC) illegally declared parliamentary seats won by the NDC to favour the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
John Mahama
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"The much-touted independence of the Electoral Commission exists only in name now. This should give all Ghanaians cause to worry," he said.
According to Mahama, a member of the EC publicly stated that the NDC as a political party is "an existential threat to Ghana's democracy. And yet, that same member presided over an election in which the same political party participated."
He stated that the NDC won the majority of the parliamentary seats, however, through devious manipulation by officials of the Electoral Commission, a number of these seats were illegally declared for the NPP.
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"The manipulation was so glaring and brazen that simple intervention by the leadership of the Electoral Commission as has been done by previous Commissioners could have addressed the issues and righted the wrongs to make court actions completely unnecessary.
"Therefore, it is not surprising that international election observers captured collation and tallying of results as one of the challenges of our 2020 elections. The posture and approach of this current Electoral Commission do not inspire the confidence needed to preside over any transparent, free and fair election," Mahama said.
He noted: "They [EC] have absolutely no reason to remain in office...This is because the Electoral Commission must remain a neutral arbiter and the organiser of elections. They must not hold a vested interest in the dubious victory of one party over another."
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