New voters’ register: Kweku Baako lambasts House of Chiefs for “creating distortions”

The Editor-in-Chief of the New Crusading Guide newspaper, Abdul Malik Kweku Baako has taken a swipe at the National House of Chiefs for attempting to portray the Electoral Commission (EC) as an autocratic entity in the commission’s bid to create a new electoral roll.

According to the ace journalist, the respected chiefs are “creating distortions” by implying that the electoral management body has said or is acting as though it is above the Constitution, a claim he says is false.

The National House of Chiefs in a statement last week called on the EC to make peaceful conduct of this year’s general elections its primary objective by ensuring that no qualified Ghanaian is disenfranchised and that the elections are free and fair.

“We all have to remember that power is not exercised in a vacuum, and so it would be naïve of anyone to think that a constitutionally created “independent body” has unbridled power. That cannot be the intention of the framers of our constitution,” the chiefs added in the statement.

Reacting to the statement on Peace FM’s Kokrokoo show Wednesday, Kweku Baako condemned the assertion by the chiefs, suggesting that they could have done better given their revered status.

“But it is obvious, like Charlotte Osei said, no matter what the parties say or individual citizens say, however prominent they may be, at the of the day they will take the decision. That is what she said and that is what the law too says.

“And I am reading that some persons are saying it will be naïve to think that the EC is above law. Has the EC ever said it is above the law?” he queried.

“So you don’t create your own distortions and invite us to interrogate your distortions and this is with all due respect to our chiefs who are very wise, but sometimes what they say I find it difficult to assimilate

“I am not a traditionalist, I am a Republican; it’s because I’m a realist that is why I concede that we need the chieftaincy institution. And so Kwame (referring to the host of the show), when our wise chiefs are talking, they should talk in a way that will make us all move along with them,” he intimated.

He indicated that the Commission was operating within the law and the only way to challenge its operation is to resort to the court.

“You don’t create a distortion. Has the EC said anywhere anytime that they are above the law? So look, people can go to the chiefs however prominent they are; they can go to the National House of Chiefs, they can go to the Council of State, they can go everywhere they want to go on planet earth, the only place that you can checkmate this EC is the court of law and the highest court of law is the best place,” kweku Baako added.