The Joint Steering Committee (JSC) of the Akpafu and Lolobi traditional areas has petitioned the Electoral Commission (EC) to clarify the electoral status and voting mandate of both areas in the upcoming 7 December polls.
This follows the assigning of both traditional areas to the Jasikan District by the EC on the current voter roll, according to the JSC.
A letter by the JSC, signed by its General Secretary C.K Amuzu and addressed to the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission, Mrs Jean Mensa, sought clarity on the election 2020 voting status of Lolobi and Akpafu.
The JSC noted: “This is to prevent discrimination and disenfranchisement of our people by administrative meddling and technicalities.”
According to the JSC, from all indications, both areas “remain part of the electoral areas under the Hohoe Constituency in the Hohoe Municipality of the Volta Region in the current electoral cycle.”
The statement continued: “We are surprised to find in the published voter register that we are assigned to Jasikan District with which we have had no prior history, mandate or engagement at the primaries”.
“You must be aware that we are lumped into the new Oti Region in error and against our express wishes, which matter is before the law courts. We understand, per the Judgment of the Supreme Court: Reference Number 16/01/20 in the case: Valentine Edem Dzatse Vrs Henry Ametefe & 5 Others dated 24 June 2020, that existing electoral mandates must be preserved as under CI 95 until after 6 January 2021.
“By implication, we the people of Lolobi and Akpafu traditional areas, are preserved by CI 95 until 6 January 2021. There is, therefore, no basis for any suspension, denial of rights or discriminatory treatment of our peoples in the 2020 elections.”
It further noted: “Our people were fully engaged in the selection, nomination and election of candidates in the primaries of all political parties in the Hohoe Constituency and know the candidates representing them very well”, adding that the “same cannot be said of candidates in the Jasikan District/ Buem Constituency.”
The JSC stressed: “We do not and will not feel competent to participate in the election of a candidate that we do not know and who cannot represent us effectively.
“Any other action or attempt to place us or suspend our full participation in the coming electoral process will amount to deliberate disenfranchising of our rights to vote under the 1992 Constitution of Ghana.”
It added: “It will be a clear disrespect of our dignity as a people, and we will resist any such action with all the force and might available to us.”