Chairperson of the Electoral Commission, Jean Mensa

The Chairperson of Ghana's Electoral Commission, Jean Mensa, has reaffirmed that the outcome of the December 7 general elections is an affirmation that elections are indeed won at the polling stations.

The flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Dramani Mahama, won the December 7 Presidential and Parliamentary elections overwhelmingly, with about a 1.7 million vote difference between the NDC candidate and his main contender, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, the then Presidential candidate for the New Patriotic Party.

Addressing the political party representatives during the first Inter-party Advisory Committee (IPAC) meeting after the December 7 elections, Jean Mensa said, "The outcomes are indeed an attestation that elections in Ghana are free, fair, credible, and transparent. It is a confirmation that elections are indeed won or lost at the polling station, and therefore it is important for political parties to also own what happens at the polling stations. It is also a confirmation that the Electoral Commission of Ghana can be trusted to conduct and undertake free, fair, transparent, and credible elections year after year."

Jean Mensa further noted that the commission, which has been constitutionally mandated to oversee all elections in the country, will see to it that the sovereign will of all Ghanaians will be protected through the use of the ballot by ensuring free, credible, and transparent elections, adding that it is not in the interest of the commission to make the leader of a political party winner of an election when the will of the Ghanaian electorate say otherwise.

"It is also an affirmation that the choice of the people and the citizens as expressed at the polls is what the Electoral Commission of Ghana will always support and declare."

"As a commission, we have always maintained that our role is not to make any candidate or political party a winner. This is a message that we have reiterated time and time again, and it was not lost on us any time we had our meetings with our staff, both permanent and temporary, as well as our meetings with key stakeholders."

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