AN OPEN LETTER TO THE SRC ELECTORAL COMMISSIONER, MASTER SK SEYRAM.
Hello my good friend Hon S K Seyram, former minority leader of student Parliament and SRC presidential candidate in the 2017 SRC presidential elections and now the Electoral Commissioner of SRC, one of the most sensitive positions reserved for men with extra cognitive cum intellectual as well as emotional intelligence. When I heard that you were appointed to steer the affairs of the commission, I was absolutely inundated with joy not because we are friends but because I have a fair idea of your uniqueness and creativity. Your abilities cannot be questioned at all when it comes to innovations. Let me use this opportunity to congratulate you on your appointment to that enviably important position. It is my prayer to see you leave an unprecedented success in that office. Of course, some of us are willing to assist you achieve success.
Seyram, I think that on one score, I'm not fair to you since I could have as usual told you, physically, at least during one of the weekends where we could have taken a bottle or two of beer at our usual spot. Well, I had to put this piece through the air in the spirit of student activism.
Hon Seyram, there is something I guess you have little knowledge or no knowledge of and I will be unfair if I don't crave your indulgence. You gained most of your followers through student Parliament, having admirably argued on the floor through your usual historical chronicles, a communication methodology you always execute with precision. Your rise through the hierarchy in the house, to become the minority leader for the 10th Parliament made you very popular and I'm sure it was one of the motivations that threw you into the SRC presidential race. At the time that, we are now struggling, to set additional standards in the house, you have ran into hiding, making your commitment to the house questionable now. Well, let me leave that subject matter till we meet physically since they are more pertinent issues I want to raise.
Chairman of EC, I trust your competencies and I guess you knew the challenges in that office before accepting your appointment so kindly do your best to restore some hope, trust and confidence in the EC. I'm not threatening you but should you try to toe the lines of previous administrations by giving a blind eye to some obvious challenges, I will put friendship aside in the beer bar, and wear my legal rope to meet you at the appropriate place. That is what makes us unique friends. We understand policy and politics unlike many who confuse the two.
I think that, some of us have every reason to demand some electoral reforms from your office. Circumstances, situations and time make policies almost unstable and as such one must always be proactive to stand the test of time. This is why we need to be bringing in new ideas for the progress and prosperity of our institution and Ghana.
EC Chairman, are you aware that the population of our institution has been increasing over the years? This academic year alone the population has increased by my personal estimation of more than 30%.
In fact, my department (Languages) can now boast of two classes for level 100. Previously, it was one class of not more than 120 students per levl. Mathematics has also been introduced as a course and of course, that has also brought in some numerical growth. If you do your checks, you would agree that the numbers has increased astronomically in all the departments. This should give you a clue to be thinking of the creation of more polling stations to take care of the increase in voter population.
Mr. EC chairman, there is another precedent in your office that I have been observing for a long time. Indeed, I identified it as problematic since my infant age on campus but had been trying to understand the legal regimes in the school especially with respect to elections. Let me point it out today. I think it is not fair that we always close polls for regular students, count and declare as the evening students begin to vote. I see it as a defect so far as fairness is concerned. It is obvious that such a declaration of results at that time, benefits some candidates more especially those leading. I say this because, undecided candidates who may want to be associated with the victory of some candidates vote for them since they know that those candidates are obviously in a "comfortable lead."
Historically, when Kojo Acheampong was leading in the results declared in the regular session, he went ahead to benefit substantially from the evening students. Amidst tension, it was too obvious that he was leading so undecided voters didn't want to waste their votes by voting for the then candidate Dapilah.
Also, in the last SRC election that produced His Excellency, Clifford Tuffour, same observation was made. I personally see this singular act as undue advantage to some candidates and must be critically looked at. We may probably have to reconcile the different times for voting. There should be a level of harmony, uniformity, equity and fairness so as to put all candidates in a levelled play field.
Another, observation I made was how people queued and struggled on shoulders to cast their votes. I do remember, a pregnant woman struggled under the mercy of the sun just to cast her vote. I also do remember that some three gentlemen who appeared "bookish" (excuse my word) went away, annoyed, since the long queue was a predicament to their alacrity to "book" in preparation for end of semester examination. These few and several other observations made me come to the conclusion that many students refuse to vote because of the "tortoise pace" of the entire process. It also indirectly revisit the issue of innovation. As a college of technology, can we think again? I am aware that some of us fought against electronic voting but a time is coming that we should revisit it if and only if we are committed to addressing the many impediments of our elections. In fact, having described you as an innovative man in my earlier rendition, I think it would serve you good to prove your worth by looking at it if you listen to my call for electoral reforms.
Seyram, I'm very sorry that the issues are becoming many but I must say it once and make time to commence the writing of my research proposal which shall be part of my assessment for the semester.
I also think that, the electoral commission should not be a "populist tool" rather a real institution. As part of the process, there is vetting but that vetting has failed to tell us certain things in the past. For instance, vetting results were not pasted. Also, it does appear that anybody can contest for the elections even when some of the candidates demonstrate enough ignorance of institutional structures before the vetting committee in the full glare of the public. We may think that we want to satisfy everybody by pushing them into the elections but do we also technically analyze the repercussions? One is that, some of these incompetent candidates can pull surprises in the elections. Another issue is that, it contributes to the cyclical run off of our SRC presidential elections. The Electoral Commission must be bold. When the likes of Nana Konadu, Akua Donkor, Hassan Ayariga, Kofi Wayo and others didn't meet the qualification to go into the race of the presidential elections, the EC didn't romanticized with the reality. They were kicked out of the race. We can do same if only we know what we are doing with fairness and dignity.
Hon Seyram, the last one has to do with debate for the various candidates. The manner in which it is being done where all the candidates are brought together, one day for the reading of manifestos makes the reading of manifesto lose its essence. How can we do effective assessment if you bring all of them(Candidates) to come and "parrot flamboyantly loaded statements" and go away because of inadequate time on the part of students to interrogate them? I suggest that the reading of manifestos should be quashed. Rather, a common platform should be created so that all candidates within a given time frame can have their manifestoes published on that platform. When this is done, we can now set dates for a debate, especially the presidential debate where people shall be extensively interrogated per their published manifestos and the general demands of the ordinary students. I am sure the debate society of UEW-K led by Osei-wuso Franco and Student Parliament led by myself can facilitate our respective groups to help you in organizing such debates.
We must be serious so that we can churn out the very quality we so yearn for.
In concluding, because of time limitation, I will not bore you with so many issues but I want to emphasize that you must look at the issues again and probably demand any explanation you may need from me. I expect nothing but fairness from you and I believe you will not disappoint. I will also be reading other laws to see whether I can make grounds to compel you legally on the need for electoral reforms should you put such serious concerns aside.
Though you are such a busy man considering being a cocoa farmer alongside the tough academic tussle, I still hope that you will make time to read this letter and perhaps respond or act accordingly. Let me also alert you that student Parliament still deserves your commitment.
Thank you.
Yours faithfully
Denis Andaban
+233549734023
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