TOPIC: LEGAL ISSUES IN THE ELECTORAL SYSTEM
MEDIA HOUSE: JOY FM
DATE: 03-11-2016
Dzifa: Good evening to you Rev. Dr. Opuni-Frimpong
Rev. Dr. Opuni-Frimpong: Dzifa Good evening and let me say good evening to your cherished listeners.
Dzifa: Thank you Sir, so PPP is calling on itself institutions such as yours to intervene in what seems to be a concern about the legal issues in the electoral system as at now, how do you respond to suggestions that maybe you’ve been silenced or is it deliberate?
Rev. Dr. Opuni-Frimpong: Let me thank you for the opportunity and say that from our end is very worried that about 40 days to general elections the issue dominating public discourse has become disqualification and going to court and appeal and all that. It seems to me this moment we should be discussing the various issues in the manifestoes, how people who vote having in mind that over the years we’ve been waiting ballot papers and that there must be intense public education on even the processes voting procedure and all that having said that, for the various parties including the electoral commission to use our ball court is something we want to recommend even though what is happening the signs and all that because we are all using the due process in addressing the issue from our end, I want to just objectively wait and allow the legal process to continue rather than making utterances interventions if they had done something outside the legal process, we might have considered coming in. we are all going to the court then we will want the court process to be pursued but for our end is very worrying and this is the time.
Dzifa: How confident are you about us having polls on December 7, the EC is very confident about that. Are you?
Rev. Dr. Opuni-Frimpong: Last week you remember that the Chief Justice in address during the judicial service meeting assured the nation she is going to do everything within her mandate to make sure that legal issues are not like we had the other time should be very swift in handling. Now that statement coming from the Chief Justice was assured but now we can’t also guarantee because the PPP issue was over then the Electoral Commission an appeal and now you can’t guarantee the number of appeals that over the coming days and weeks we are going to witness and if they are all going to use which their right are full upon appeal then these are some of the worrying thing to happen but if consensus building and the law court will also be very swift and we can get our December 7 because of the assurances they’ve given to us now we won’t stretch our patience.
Dzifa: Now many thanks to you Rev. Dr. Opuni-Frimpong, he is the General Secretary of the Christian Council of Ghana.
Rev. Dr. Opuni-Frimpong: Thank you Dzifa