Electoral officers cry foul

Scores OF officers who were engaged by the Electoral Commission (EC) to work at the various polling stations during the December 7 elections are complaining about illegal deduction of monies due them.

According to them, the EC had unjustifiably deducted GH¢20 from the amount that each person was supposed to have collected.

Some of the affected officers called into the ‘morning show’ programme of Ashh FM, a radio station in Kumasi on Thursday, to complain bitterly about the happening.

They claimed that about 1,000 people were recruited by the EC to render services to the electoral body during the polls and they suspected every one of them was given the raw deal.

The affected people therefore appealed to the EC leadership to intervene immediately so that their monies – which they claimed had been illegally deducted – would be refunded to them.

When the EC was called into the programme, its Ashanti Regional boss, Serebuo Quaicoe, stated that his office had not ordered any of its officials to deduct monies from people who worked for the EC last year.

He said the categories of workers that the EC engaged during the polls were supposed to be paid ranging from Presiding Officers (GH¢400), Ballot Officers (GH¢350) to Ballot Paper Issuers (GH¢300).

But some of the workers from Suame, Oforikrom and Manhyia North Constituencies complained bitterly on radio that GH¢20 was illegally deducted from their emoluments by the EC officials.

They alleged that they were made to sign for amounts such as GH¢400, GH¢350 and GH¢300 respectively, to be paid to them, but to their dismay, GH¢20 was deducted from each person’s perquisite during the payment.

Mr. Quaicoe stated that he had no hand in the alleged illegal deduction of monies, admonishing the workers who are yet to receive theirs to insist that the full amount is paid to them.

He said two accountants in the Ashanti Region had been engaged to pay the monies to the workers, and so he was surprised about the turn of events. The regional EC boss said it would be extremely difficult for the deducted monies to be refunded, since the affected people signed that they had been paid the full amounts.