With less than 24 hours to the Akwatia parliamentary by-election, the Electoral Commission (EC) and the two major political parties, the NDC and NPP, have given firm assurances of a peaceful and credible process.
The EC says all logistics and personnel required for the vote are ready. Eastern Regional Director of the EC, John Appiah Baffo, confirmed that ballot papers, registers and other election materials have been distributed, while officials have undergone full training.
“The ballot papers are ready, the BVDs are ready, registers and all the electoral materials. We have 484 election officials, and we’ve trained all of them on the electoral process. So, as we have said, everything is ready,” Mr. Baffo stated.
He added that the EC has been engaging party representatives to ensure smooth cooperation on election day.
“We explain to them what is expected of them and speak with them to make sure they comport themselves very well, so that we have credible elections. Our polling stations will also be more accessible to all persons, especially people with disabilities,” he said.
Director of Electoral Services at the EC, Benjamin Banor-Bio, speaking on the midday news on Joy FM, also noted that the Commission is fully prepared for the polls.
“I can assure you that the EC is ready for tomorrow. As it is now, all the materials that are required for the elections are all ready. We have finished training our officials. BVDs have been sent to the constituency, packaging of materials is ongoing. And at dawn tomorrow we will distribute the materials to all 119 polling stations for voting to start at 7am,” Mr. Banor-Bio said.
He explained that the Akwatia by-election will follow the usual arrangements but with one key innovation. “The only new thing is that this time we have a tablet, so that the results will be scanned at the polling station and then sent to a dedicated portal. That’s the only new thing we’ve added. We started it from Ablekuma North rerun, and we are going to continue with it in the Akwatia by-election,” he added.
On security, Mr. Banor-Bio said the Commission has been working closely with the police to ensure a safe environment.
“We have had a lot of interaction with the police, and the IGP has assured us that they are going to ensure effective security. They provided a lot of strategies that they’ll put in place to ensure effective security, and we could all see they’ve started with it,” he noted.
On the political front, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) believes its development projects in the constituency will secure victory. The party’s Deputy General Secretary, Mustapha Gbande, expressed confidence that residents will reward the NDC at the polls.
The New Patriotic Party (NPP), however, says it is leaving nothing to chance. Deputy General Secretary, Haruna Mohammed, revealed that the party has activated what it calls Operation Firewall to ensure that “every vote is protected.”
Akwatia can be described as a swing seat because the New patriotic party and the National Democratic Congress have both won it 4 times, and this makes the stakes so high.
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Meanwhile, the Ghana Police Service has assured voters of their safety, declaring all polling stations “weapon-free zones.” The police say they will work with communities and election officials to guarantee a peaceful process, with the military only on standby if needed.