Kweku Baako warns Bossman Asare

Deputy Electoral Commissioner Dr. Bossman Asare has been advised to be circumspect in his utterance following a public misunderstanding with the main opposition National Democratic Congress.

Mr. Bossman had publicly accused the NDC of engaging in “partisan wranglings…and if you like rantings” after the party said there was no consultations on an Electoral Commission plan to compile a 2020 voter’s register.

“We, the Commission we are not going to engage in any partisan pandering”

“If we at the Commission are convinced that the register is bloated, we will go ahead and do the right thing. That is why we are here”, Dr. Asare told Joy News Friday.

The NDC has asked the EC to properly table the issue of a new voter’s register for a discussion at the Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC).

Mr. Baako who is Editor-In-Chief of the New Crusading Guide newspaper called the controversy between the EC and NDC a “storm in a teacup”.

He said, of course the EC would consult the political parties as it has always done on key electoral matters.

Baako said on Joy News analysis show Newsfile Saturday, the NDC was right to point out that the plan to compile a 2020 voter’s register was not discussed at IPAC.

But to proceed from this and suggest the EC was up to some mischief was unhelpful in building a tradition of cooperation between the EC and the parties.

It pollutes the atmosphere, he said and complained of what he saw as a “continuous agitation and attacks on the EC and its personnel”.

For him the NDC started on a “right premise and drew a wrong conclusion” and noted a “multitude of suspicion” of the EC cannot constitute proof the Commission has something up its sleeve.

He also had words for Dr. Bossman Asare who is the Commissioner in charge of Finance and Administration.

The veteran journalist said while the EC is independent and does not take instructions from an advisory body like IPAC, it still needs the cooperation of the political parties to roll out its programs.

To this end, he advised Dr. Asare to “watch his choice of words” and “body language” in dealing with the parties especially on issues that can spark political controversy and tension.

He said there is a time to be tough and hard as former EC Chair Dr. Afari Gyan could be, but the Commissioner ought to be circumspect of the political environment within which the Commission operates.