Ghana Electoral Commission (EC) has altered its primary decision to limit media access to constituency and regional collation centres.
A memo dated November 25, states that the EC had announced its plans to accredit only eight media houses for constituency collation centres (three TV stations with two personnel each and five radio stations with one each) and 12 media houses for regional collation centres (five TV stations with two personnel each and seven radio stations with one each).
Ghana Electoral Commission (EC) came in agreement with the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) and the Ghana Independent Broadcasters Association (GIBA), which has led to an increase in media accreditation to 4,500 after facing public backlash.
However, on December 2, a new statement was issued and signed by the Director of Electoral Services Benjamin Bano-Bioh, the EC announced its decision to accord unlimited media access to collation centres.
The statement read:
"Following internal discussions and consultations with key media personalities, the Electoral Commission (EC) is pleased to announce to the Media and the General Public that media persons assigned photo accreditation to cover Polling Stations will be able to use the same accreditation to cover Constituency and Regional Collation Centres."
"From Saturday, 7 December 2024, media persons can access Constituency and Regional Collation Centres using their photo accreditation cards issued by the EC."
The EC reaffirmed its commitment to transparency and accountability, stating that the reversal aims to provide media personnel with "greater flexibility and access to Election centres."
The statement further noted:
"Arrangements for media access to the National Collation Centre will be announced in due course."
Meanwhile, the EC successfully conducted the special voting exercise in 14 regions on 2 December 2024. The remaining regions—Eastern and Western—will hold their special voting exercise on Thursday, 5 December 2024.
The statement also announced that, after the EC internal discussions and consultations with key media stakeholders, media professionals with photo accreditation to cover polling stations will now be allowed to use the same accreditation to access constituency and regional collation centres.
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