Electoral Commission (EC) has sparked controversy with its latest directive limiting media access to constituency and regional collation centres for the 2024 general elections.
This move has drawn significant flak from various media stakeholders, who argue that it restricts their ability to cover the elections effectively.
According to the EC’s memo, district and regional staff have been instructed to allocate quotas to media houses for accreditation at collation centres.
This means that only a select few media outlets will be allowed to cover the elections from these critical centres.
The EC’s directive permits only eight media outlets at each constituency collation centre and 12 at the regional collation centres.
This limitation, while intended to ensure orderliness, has raised questions about transparency and inclusivity.
In response to the feedback, the EC announced on Wednesday, November 27, that it is engaging with the leadership of the Ghana Journalists Association and Ghana Independent Broadcasters Association (GIBA) to address the concerns.
The Commission assured stakeholders that it is committed to reaching a workable and acceptable arrangement that balances transparency with order at the collation centres.
“As a listening Commission, we are engaging with the leadership of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) and the Ghana Independent Broadcasters Association (GIBA) on the issue and trust that we will arrive at an arrangement that is both workable and acceptable.”
The EC emphasized its commitment to maintaining the highest level of transparency in the collation process, citing its decision to grant media access to all constituency, regional, and national collation centres.
However, it stressed the importance of limiting the number of persons at these centres to ensure orderly and peaceful operations during the collation of election results.
“The Commission is keen on ensuring the highest level of transparency in its operations, hence the opening up of all its Constituency, Regional and National Collation Centres to the Media.
