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considering the way some security officers tasked to maintain law and order rather disrupted the counting process with the firing of guns in some collation centres. He told this paper that the varied results which have so far been announced by the EC Chairperson, Jean Mensa from the declaration to the certification and so-called gazetting of the results is an indication that the process has not been transparent and a run-off is needed to resolve the current impasse. Having escaped death a couple of times as a result of electoral violence in Ivory Coast and Togo, Mr. Reindorf who is also a musician warned that Ghanaians should not take the tension which is building up in the country as a result of the demonstrations and protests by supporters of the opposition NDC lightly since any civil unrest will come with grave consequences to all Ghanaians. He insisted that election run-off is the only way out since the EC made provisions for it during the December 7 polls arguing that any resort to the law courts and not run-off is but a call for “wisdom of men” and not wisdom from divine intervention. Meanwhile, the Progressive People’s Party (PPP) has said the various bodies and individuals calling for peace following the outcome of the 2020 general elections should not lose sight of justice.
Mr. Kofi Asamoah-Siaw, the running mate of the Progressive People’s Party (PPP) who spoke on behalf of the party argues that there cannot be peace when justice has not been given to aggrieved persons.
He has, therefore, advised the EC to publish the 275 collation sheets used for the presidential election since that is what will bring the peace we are calling for.
He asked the Peace Council, the Ghana Armed Forces, Ghana Police Service, and stakeholders who have called for peace to ensure that their loyalty should be for Ghana and not a political party or an individual.
”Peace is paramount, it is important and PPP supports peace but we are forgetting about justice. For peace to prevail, there must be justice. We cannot cheat people and ask them to pursue a path of peace when we have refused to give them justice,” he said.
The EC he stated promised to be transparent and credible but they are now being accused of rigging the polls because they were not transparent in the elections.
“For peace to prevail, the EC must publish the 275 collation sheets for the parties who contested the results to be satisfied. That is what will bring peace.”
He made these remarks in an interview with Accra based Rainbow Radio with host Kwabena Agyapong.
The PPP’s running mate said the publication should not be difficult for the EC to do because they managed to publish the entire register used for the general elections before December 7, 2020.
He said there is no need for people to call for peace when those challenging the results have not been given an opportunity to be heard.
Mr. Asamoah-Siaw further noted that it makes no sense to ask an aggrieved party to accept the results when they have raised questions about irregularities.
The publication of the 16 regions which have been published on the website he said is a mistake and unlawful because they should have rather published the constituency results.To him, the declaration cannot be correct when the EC has failed to allow due process to be followed and the evidence for the declaration has not been transparent.