GIJ SRC Elections: 3 presidential candidates disqualified, students suspect foul play

Three candidates in the upcoming Ghana Institute of Journalism (GIJ) Students’ Representative Council elections have been disqualified.

The Electoral Commission at the institute announced the results after vetting on Saturday, September 4, 2021.

Out of four candidates who expressed interest in contesting the elections, the EC approved only one. This means the candidate will contest unopposed.

According to the EC, the candidates who were disqualified failed to meet the threshold after vetting.

The EC gave the affected candidates 48 hours to challenge the results with the Judicial Committee.

The candidates who were disqualified were David Nana Appiah who garnered 67.2%, Abdulai Saaka, 66%, and Albert Kofi Konadu who managed to get 66.4%.

Meanwhile, the identification by the EC has been described as an attempt to present to the students a preferred candidate of the current administration led by Nii Lante.

Some of the students and campaign managers of the disqualified candidates alleged that some campaign managers of the qualified candidate were part of the vetting committee.

They, therefore, accused the EC and the betting committee of bias and an attempt to compromise the elections in favour of the preferred candidate.

One of the disqualified candidates David Armah, popularly known as Farman, issued a statement expressing his disappointment and readiness to contest the results for the vetting.

“The EC’s results as published indicates that the candidacy of our aspirant, David Farman has been terminated. This comes as a shock to the team following the glaring signs that show he is qualified.

"We find many reasons to contest this decision by the commission and as such, pursuing the guidelines and orders as given by the commission.

"Our legal team is pursuing the case in the Judicial Committee to address pertinent matters that have come out of the vetting.

"We are encouraged to continue in solidarity with David Nana Appiah,” the statement said.