Full text: EC Chair's speech at maiden edition of “Let The Citizen Know" forum
Source: myjoyonline

Good Morning Commissioners, Directors, Staff and Friends from the Media. It is a pleasure to welcome you to the Electoral Commission today. This is the day the Lord has made and we rejoice and we are glad in it. The purpose of our gathering here this morning is to outdoor the maiden edition of our initiative dubbed “Let The Citizen Know"- Transparency and Accountability in motion”. This initiative aims at providing the Commission the opportunity to engage with the citizens and inform them about our activities and processes from now till we close our doors to Election 2020. This initiative will also enable us to receive feedback, answer questions, and address the concerns of the citizen. Why are we doing this? As a Commission,we believe that the citizens should be informed about our processes&activities and the actions we take. Since assuming office in 2018, we have endeavouredto bring the Commission to the doorstep of key stakeholders by informing them about our operations. As you may recall we engaged and interacted with a variety of stakeholders including religious bodies, traditional authority and the media to name a few. It is in this same spirit, that is, the spirit of Transparency and Accountability that we gathered here today.We believe that this platform will afford us the opportunity to provide timely information on a regular basis to the citizens. We are confident that by so doing, we will demystify the operationsof the Commission and remove the cloaks of secrecy that had hitherto shrouded our work and processes. We are keen to ensure that citizens are provided with the truth and facts as they unfold. We are determined to open up our processes and promote transparency around our work. It is our resolve to assure the citizen that there is nothing mysterious about our operations and to letthe citizens know that as sensitive our mandate is, the processes leading to elections are basic and mundane. We are of the view that providing timely updates to the citizen will help build trust and confidence in the Commission. This we hope, will help erase the tensions and suspicions that characterise our work and elections generally. Distinguished Ladies and gentlemen, this initiative dubbed “Let The Citizen Know" aims to help us to achieve the objectives outlined above. Through you, our dear friends in the Media, we intend to engage with the citizens twice a week, on Wednesday and Friday starting today. Using the “Let The Citizen Know" Platform, we will provide the citizens with updates ranging from the number of persons who register per day nationwide, to details on male/female ratios, to the number of persons who use the guarantee system, number of persons who use a form of identification, to name a few. To you, our media personnel here gathered, we consider you our bridge to the citizen. You are our gateway to the public. We hope and trust that you will be accountable to the citizenry by presenting them with the facts and evidence as they are laid bare here. We trust that in carrying out your duties as seasoned journalists, you will put Ghana and no other entity first. We have no doubt at all that you understand the times in which we find ourselves. This is an election year and already the tensions and suspicions are high. It is important that you present an objective reportage of what transpires here. You have a responsibility not to use this platform for sensitization. We (you and us)owe it to the citizens to present the facts and the truth as they unfold. We view you as our partners in theenterprise of informing the citizens on the facts and truth. We are in this together and the role we each play, will have a bearing on the future and destiny of our dear country Ghana. At the end of the day, when all is said and done,we should each find ourselves on the side of Truth and Justice. May God bless our Homeland Ghana and make our Nation great and strong.