The Founding President of IMANI Africa, Franklin Cudjoe has expressed his deep frustration and lack of trust in Ghana’s Electoral Commission (EC), calling out the institution for what he describes as “gerrymandering” and manipulative practices.

In an opinion piece on Wednesday, October 2, he accused the EC of deliberately disenfranchising the people of Santrokofi, Akpafu, Likpe, and Lolobi (SALL) during the 2020 general elections, among other grievances.

“I get so irritated whenever I hear the Electoral Commission chairperson ask people to trust her and her gang,” Mr Cudjoe began, noting that the EC’s promises to his people were broken just days before the 2020 elections.

According to him, the EC promised the Chiefs of SALL during a meeting on November 30, 2020, that their constituents would vote. Cudjoe, who was present, even personally thanked the Chairperson.

However, six days later, on the eve of the election, a midnight letter was released by the EC, declaring that the people of SALL would not be allowed to vote, without providing any explanation.

Mr Cudjoe described this decision as a turning point in Ghana’s political landscape, claiming that it “tilted the balance of power in Ghana’s Parliament, giving the ruling NPP a single majority.”

He strongly believes that this was an orchestrated act of “gerrymandering” carried out by the EC, in collaboration with the government.

His anger at the situation is compounded by what he terms “judicial chicanery,” where a court case challenging the electoral fraud was dismissed after three years, with the judge claiming no jurisdiction.

“For four years, my people in SALL had no representation in Parliament, saw no single development, and our dilapidated school and road infrastructure just got worse. And yet we paid taxes!” Mr Cudjoe lamented.

The failure to address SALL’s issues, he argues, is symbolic of deeper, systemic problems within the EC.

Mr Cudjoe further pointed to what he described as a blatant lie from the EC about the lifespan of biometric voter equipment.

The EC claimed that all the equipment had been purchased in 2011 and was no longer usable for the 2020 elections.

However, Cudjoe countered that parliamentary records, as well as statements from the Controller and Accountant General and the Ministry of Finance, indicated that nearly 4,000 units of such equipment had been purchased in 2016, 2018, and 2019.

These units had been successfully used in the 2016 general elections, the December 2019 District Level elections and the 2018 referendum.

“Strangely, all the voter equipment ‘died’ in January 2020, just three weeks after being used for the district level elections in December 2019,” he wrote, accusing the EC of deliberately pushing for the purchase of new equipment.

According to Cudjoe, the EC rigged the tender process for the new equipment, fraudulently awarding a contract using an invented arithmetic formula.

“83 + 15 = 106,” Mr Cudjoe mocked, explaining how the EC awarded the winning bidder more points than the next favoured bidder who had a total score of 102.

Mr Cudjoe argued that this “rigged” procurement process led to the unnecessary spending of $90 million on new voter equipment and an additional $60 million in election-related costs.

He stressed that this financial mismanagement contributed to the severe economic crisis in Ghana, which eventually led to the country being downgraded to junk status.

“This was one of the major reasons Ghana’s economy tanked and got junk-rated as we couldn’t pay our domestic and international debts,” Mr Cudjoe stated.

Mr Cudjoe addressed claims that his critique of the EC was politically motivated.

He dismissed suggestions that IMANI Africa or its principals were vying for contracts or positions within the EC.

“It has nothing to do with the laughable, contrived political narrative that IMANI wanted a contract or IMANI principals wanted the Electoral Commissioner’s position,” he stated, referring to these accusations as propaganda pushed by “mindless political footsoldiers, their paymasters, and a newspaper that publishes Daily Rubbish.”

In his closing remarks, Franklin Cudjoe urged Ghanaians to remain vigilant.

“So, yes, you can trust if you want, but be vigilant,” he cautioned, making it clear that blind trust in the EC is misplaced given the institution’s history of broken promises and questionable actions.