Outgoing President of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), Roland Affail Monney, has called on the electoral committee of the association to answers questions pertaining to missing names of members in the voters register.

According to him, the issue of missing names on the voters register during election of new executives was unfortunate. He indicated that the association needs to ensure that generally every member who “pays their dues will have the legitimate right to vote” and express their choice.

“I think the election committee should answer any question related to the voters register. In fact, it was very embarrassing that the people who had paid their dues could not trace their names on the voter’s list. This is not to say that the people who have suffered this embarrassing situation or disappointment outweigh the people whose names were captured. On the contrary, many of our people were captured on the voters’ list…”
Roland Affail Monney

Mr Monney revealed that the electoral committee is in the best position to explain the circumstances which led to some of these unfortunate incidents. That notwithstanding, he noted that never again should such situations be repeated.

“All these reinforces our point that afterall, we are not whiter than white, even if journalists tend to portray, given their penchant to criticise others. The reality is that we are not perfect. All this serves as a wakeup call, as a learning curve, so that we roll out a better elections in three years’ time.”
Roland Affail Monney

Addressing challenges of GJA

To address the concerns on missing names in the register, Mr Monney advised that the leadership should not wait to inject the necessary “reforms into the administrative machinery” of the association due to the “inordinate delay” in holding the election. He opined that there was little time to display the register throughout the country, as the association had two weeks to organise the entire election.

“ So, the committee was racing against time and the understanding was that it was better to hold an election to reduce the tension and to help us redeem the time than to further delay and cause tension to soar.”
Roland Affail Monney

Commenting on the process, Mr Monney highlighted that the members of the association have spoken and “we have no choice than to accept” their choice. In every election, he stated that the confidence to win is the “cornerstone of victory”.

“It’s interesting to know that all the candidates before the final verdict were bristling with confidence, but one has emerged as the open President of the GJA.”
Roland Affail Monney

The outgoing GJA President emphasized that given the challenges which characterised the elections, coupled with the “outlandish allegations, the slanderous accusations, given the high tensions which we endured”, one is inclined to believe or fear that these may “rear their ugly heads” again.

“So, this underlines the need to appeal most profoundly to every members of the GJA to put the hurt behind them. This is the time to heal wounds, assuage our pain; this is the time to pull in one direction in order to propel our organisation to the place it’s intended to be.”
Roland Affail Monney

Going forward, Mr Monney advised that the incoming administration should work on the electoral process and the membership drive and participation. He indicated that many people are scrambling to be members because the GJA is growing in popularity and acceptance.

“I believe the next administration will waste no time to sharpen their focus in areas where we fall short, so that we move forward in all dimensions of our activity and our programs.”
Roland Affail Monney