Because Accountability Counts – A Journalist guide for covering post-elections

Because Accountability Counts – A Journalist guide for covering post-elections in Ghana is one of the key building blocks for Ghana Post-elections Intervention Project whose main objective is to help overcome the challenges and problems affecting citizens’ ability to hold elected representatives accountable for promises they make during pre-election campaigns. The guide’s main objective is to empower journalists and other stakeholders
with an information and knowledge resource for playing the watch and guide dog role in holding elected officers accountable. It provides an overview of post-elections landscape of Ghana, covering governance, legislative issues, political parties and their manifestoes,ruling party, opposition and governing after an election and provides guides for covering:
1. Parliament, Political Parties, Ruling Government (mapping campaign promises
& manifesto), Opposition and Key Governance Issues
2. Investigative journalism and post-elections coverage
3. ICTs and Covering Post-Elections
4. Covering Budget and Extractive Industries and
5. Lessons to be learned from the post 2007 election crisis in Kenya

Download a copy of the the guide here

EC concedes error on voters’ register

The Electoral Commission (EC) has conceded that there might be an error on the voters’ register that was given to the National Democratic Congress (NDC) by its office.

The NDC has claimed that it has obtained a copy of the voters’ register from the EC which contained a larger number of registered voters in parts of the Ashanti region than what the EC has publicly declared.

The NDC then accused the EC of bloating the register, and called for an enquiry into the matter.

Another political party, the Great Consolidated Popular Party (GCPP) has corroborated this claim by the NDC, which it supported with a letter from the EC, indicating the EC has given the party a copy of the voters’ register.

As a result, the EC set up a three-man committee internally, to investigate the matter. The political parties, however, have asked the EC to include them on the committee, a demand the EC has declined, saying it will bring the parties in only when it is necessary.

Speaking to Joy News, Mr. Samuel Yorke Aidoo, Acting Head of Public Affairs at the EC, said, the EC welcomes the interventions of the NDC and GCPP, and added that the EC is making its own internal investigations and it has faith in the committee to do a good job. He also said any issue raised by the parties would be examined and properly addressed.

He said, because the putting together of a voters’ register is a collective affair by the EC which is a human institution, errors could occur just as in any human institution and therefore, he does not think that the matter should be blown out of proportion.

Mr. Yorke Aidoo admitted on the news that there could have been an error, because the EC is susceptible to making mistakes and promised that the internally constituted committee should be able to detect any error, if indeed there were errors and effect the necessary corrections before the voters’ register is opened for revision by May 2008.

Ghana :Countdown to 2004 Elections Compilation of all the results of the 1996 & 200 Presidential & Parliamentary Elections with Analsyis

This book, we believe, will be a must-read for all Ghanaians and non-Ghanaians.For those interested in elections, this is perhaps, the only book where all the 1996 and 2000 Presidential/Parliamentary, allied data and analysis are placed, handily.

We do not make any predictions as to the outcome of the 2004 elections but all our reader have enough information to enable them arrive at their conclusions. Please bear in mind that as at the time we went to press, in July,2003,Ghanaians were about 17)seventeen) months away fro the December 2004 elections. We have the list of over 8,000 towns which make up the 200 constituencies.

For those who are not interested in Ghanaian elections, there write-ups, with maps on all the 10 administrative regions and110 districts. These write-ups touch on demographic and economic characteristics. These are two different Cost ofLiving Surveys, one by the state agency and the other by civic society.

THE AUTHOR

Emmanuel Benjamin Ephson was born in 1957 in the Ghanaian capital,Accra.He had his secondary educaton at Accra Academy and obtained a law degree,LL.B(Hons) from University of Ghana,Legon, in 1981.He started his professional career as a journalist in1974 and to date has worked for the London-based African magazine(1974-1984);West African magazine(1982-1996) and as Correspondent for the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) between 1986 and 1996. He has since 1996, been the Ghanaian Correspondent for the Agence France Presse (AFP). Since 1988, he has been the editor of an independent daily newspaper, The Daily Dispatch. He also hosted a radio talk-show, Ephson’s File.

Among some of his honours are the U.S. based National Association of Black Journalist(NABJ) award for ‘Human Rights and Excellence; a Ghana Journalists Association(GJA) award for Commitment and Dedication’ and a five-month Ford Foundation Fellowship at the University of Maryland, College Park (US). He has also been a guest of the American, British, Canadian and French governments, visiting professional institutions.

He is also the Director of a human rights non-governmental organization(NGO),GHANALERT,which has fro the past nine years been involved in monitoring elections in Ghana and other West African countries. GHANALERT has also been involved in research and opinon/election polling.

ISBN 9988 0 1641 7

NDC opens nominations at constituencies

The National Democratic Congress, NDC on Monday said it had approved the opening of nominations at all constituencies with sitting Members of Parliament (MPs) starting from 18th February, 2008.

A statement signed by Baba Jamal, Deputy General Secretary of the NDC said the decision was taken by the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the party at a meeting on February 7, 2008.

The statement called on any member interested in contesting on the ticket of the party to contact their respective constituency office for their nomination forms.

"The final date of submission of the forms is Friday, 7th March 2008," the statement added.

GNA

Ghana Elections 2008 falls on Sunday 7 December 2008

Ghana's presidential and parliamentary elections will take place on Sunday 7th December according to the Electoral Commission