We are not creating new constituencies – EC denies

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Chairperson of the Electoral Commission has urged the public to disregard reports that the Commission is creating 25 new constituencies before the 2020 general elections.

According to the claims made by the Minority, out of the 25 constituencies, 17 will go to the governing New Patriotic Party’s stronghold in the Ashanti region and the remaining spread across 12 other regions.

But Jean Mensa in during an interaction with journalists in Parliament said although the Commission has not had any discussions on the creation of new constituencies.

She said “that is a total lie, it has not come up. I am sure that nothing stops the Commission from considering or creating new constituencies.

“This is an issue that is on our agenda but we have seen reports in the public domain and we can say for a fact that this is not coming from the Commission.

“The Commission has not met to consider this, although this is an issue on its agenda and it is a mandate of the Commission but those figures and the information put out there is not true and we ask the public to disregard it,” she added.

The First Deputy Minority Chief Whip in Parliament Ibrahim Ahmed accused President Akufo-Addo of influencing the electoral commission to create some 25 new constituencies ahead of the 2020 elections.

In an interview, the Banda MP said “before 2018, when the issue about Charlotte Osei became topical, I indicated clearly that the faceless people who asked for her to leave will make some demands.

The EC Chair has described the reports as ‘total lies’

Chairperson of the Electoral Commission has urged the public to disregard reports that the Commission is creating 25 new constituencies before the 2020 general elections.

According to the claims made by the Minority, out of the 25 constituencies, 17 will go to the governing New Patriotic Party’s stronghold in the Ashanti region and the remaining spread across 12 other regions.

But Jean Mensa in during an interaction with journalists in Parliament said although the Commission has not had any discussions on the creation of new constituencies.

She said “that is a total lie, it has not come up. I am sure that nothing stops the Commission from considering or creating new constituencies.

“This is an issue that is on our agenda but we have seen reports in the public domain and we can say for a fact that this is not coming from the Commission.

“The Commission has not met to consider this, although this is an issue on its agenda and it is a mandate of the Commission but those figures and the information put out there is not true and we ask the public to disregard it,” she added.

The First Deputy Minority Chief Whip in Parliament Ibrahim Ahmed accused President Akufo-Addo of influencing the electoral commission to create some 25 new constituencies ahead of the 2020 elections.

In an interview, the Banda MP said “before 2018, when the issue about Charlotte Osei became topical, I indicated clearly that the faceless people who asked for her to leave will make some demands.

Mr. President has an agenda against the NDC and has asked the EC to create new and additional 25 constituencies to disadvantage others.

“There is a plan for a new Parliamentary chamber to be built and has been budgeted for but for now, where will the extra 25 MPs sit when new constituencies are created.

“Very soon, we’ll be told that citizens have petitioned and have asked for the creation of new constituencies and so it must happen. We are all in this country, we’ll see what happens,” he claimed.

Mrs Mensa said although the Commission is mandated by law to create constituencies, the amount of work required to get this done has yet to be done, therefore, it cannot go ahead with any such actions.

She stressed the need for any such actions to be considered carefully because certain constituencies have large numbers, others have small numbers.

“So these are things that you have to consider but there is no rush. It is a mandate of the Commission so it is always on the front burner but to be honest, it has not even been discussed.

“It has nothing to do with the creation of new regions and so on. At the moment we are busy setting up offices and that is what is before us…and so although the creation of new constituencies is a mandate of the Commission, it is not something that is occupying us at the moment,” the EC Chair said.

The last time the EC created new constituencies was in 2012. This increased seats in Parliament from 200 to 230, pushing the seats in the Legislature to 275.

By: Myjoyonline.com