The President of the Student Representative Council of the University of Media, Arts and Communications-GIJ campus, Bismark Owusu-Ansah has announced a re-run of the 2022/2023 elections of General Assembly members and Electoral Commission Representatives.
Bismark Owusu-Ansah made this announcement in a signed statement that was released on the 31st of January, 2023.
It was made in response to the previous elections held for the General Assembly Members, Electoral Commission Representatives, Judicial Committee Representatives, External Affairs Commission Representatives and Women’s Commission Representatives on 27th January, 2023, after the school populace started questioning the credibility of the procedures.
In the statement, the President resolved to call for a re-run to address the issue of inconsistencies from the election procedures.
Speaking to UniversNews, Mr. Owusu-Ansah stated that the re-run elections will put more focus on the verification of the Voter’s identity as a student or a personnel.
“It’s going to be the same way, but we are going to have something that we can use to verify the vote. When you cast a vote, you are supposed to verify that this is coming from whom. If, you are voting [as a level 200 student], [we] should know that this particular vote is coming is from a 200 student or personnel.”
Mr. Owusu-Ansah further explained how he came up with the decision, stating that it took him and his fellow executives to listen to the aggrieved students and finally conclude on the resolve.
“I called the General Secretary, I have spoken to him. I spoke to the aggrieved students whom the executives have spoken to, then I believed that we should rerun these elections. I don’t want any issue where my executives and students may be having a [conflict]. I don’t want that. The people are saying that we should re-run the elections. Majority of the executives are in favour of that, why not re-run the elections?”
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Story by: Deborah Yakohene | univers.ug.edu.gh