Charlotte Osei, the former chair of the Electoral Commission, has expressed anxiety about what she describes as the seeming politics of exclusion in Ghana after the 2020 elections.
The people of Santrokofi, Akpafu, Lolobi and Likpe (SALL) were unable to vote in the 2020 parliamentary election after the creation of the Oti Region, though their position warranted the creation of a new constituency.
Divisive politics
“… I get concerned when I hear a lot of ethnic stuff, division coming up. I get concerned that we are living in this country pretending as if everything is right about our governance, when there is a certain part of our country that is not represented in Parliament,” Osei told the Accra-based Joy FM on Wednesday.
“I think that should worry all of us every day.
“I get concerned when I hear a student being denied admission because of religious belief or hairstyle. I get concerned when I hear that a Muslim child is not being allowed to observe their religious belief,” she said.
The former EC chair called on all Ghanaians with a stake in the electoral process to be proactive in ensuring everyone gets a part to play in the country’s democracy.
“Those things bother me, because it is almost as if we keep pushing people out rather than bringing them in,” Osei said.
Fred Dzakpata
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