29 December 2008
The Chronicle's independent monitoring of yesterday's presidential run-off, especially in Volta and Ashanti regions, has revealed that violence was visited on some of the agents who were sent to monitor the election.
Most of the NPP agents who were sent to the Volta region for instance were prevented from doing their work by the local people. At Sogakofe in the South Tongu constituency for instance these NPP agents were taken hostage for several hours on suspicion that they were machomen who had brought thumb printed ballot boxes to the constituency. They demanded that the hotel where they were lodging be thoroughly searched. The police had to intervene before they could get their freedom.
Some of the agents dispatched to other parts of the region especially the southern section were also not spared. Dr. Sammy Ohene, a prominent member of NPP was attacked based on the same suspicion. The local people also manhandled some of the election observers who were sent to the region. As a result of these attacks, most of the polling stations in the region were without NPP agents.
In Ashanti region, radio reports indicated that some of the NDC agents were chased out from the polling stations. At Abbey's Park at Ashanti New Town in the Manhyia constituency, a man who claimed to have been sent from Anloga in Volta region to monitor the elections for NDC was severely assaulted and had to be rescued by a police officer who was on duty at the polling station.
Machomen also went berserk in some parts of the country especially in Ashanti, Greater Accra and Volta regions. At Ashaiman near Tema a 32-room hotel called Queens hotel was vandalized by angry voters who claimed machomen were hiding ballot boxes they had allegedly snatched from some of the polling stations in the constituency.
At Weija also in Accra three people who attempted to snatch ballot boxes were arrested and severely beating by some of the residents who were around. Innocent people who were going round were also arrested by some of the angry voters on suspicion that they were machomen and severely assaulted. The situation compelled the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Patrick Kwarteng Acheampong to go round some of the polling stations in Accra to restore calm.
Contrary to expectation the election in the three northern regions was rather peaceful save few pockets of violence. In another development The Coalition of Domestic Election Observers (CODEO) recorded 34 cases of missing election materials at the just ended election.
According to the Website of CODEO the missing election materials included ballot boxes, ballot paper, voters' register, indelible ink, voting screen, validating stamp, endorsing ink and ink pad.
CODEO deployed approximately 4,000 non-partisan domestic observers across the country on polling day including over 1,000 Rapid Response Observers (RROs) stationed at a nationally representative randomly sampled polling stations in all the 230 constituencies. The cases were reported from Eastern, Brong Ahafo, Ashanti, Upper East and Volta.
According to CODEO its observers recorded a total of 24 cases of disorder at polling stations in Eastern, Ashanti, Central, and Greater Accra regions.
"12 cases of intimidation and harassment particularly in Ashanti, Brong Ahafo and Eastern regions,14 cases of violence mainly in Ashanti, Eastern, Brong Ahafo and Central regions; 6 cases of violation of voting procedures largely in Ashanti and Northern regions," the website reiterated.
CODEO said few cases of polling officials were suspected to be partisan; disenfranchising eligible voters; allowing ineligible voters to vote; suspension of voting, and snatching and stuffing of ballot boxes.
"For instance, suspension of polls had been reported in some parts of Brong Ahafo (Tain constituency), Central (Methodist Church/Town Saltpond polling station in the Mfantseman West constituency, CPB Amantsiaa Abaasa polling station in the Ajumako/Enyan/Esiam constituency ) and Eastern regions (L A JSS Anyankode Awukugua polling station in the Okere constituency)."
It stated that an observer also reported suspension of polls at Oblogo in Weija constituency in the Greater Accra region.It concluded that voters in Temp Booth Chalator polling station in Kpandai constituency in the Northern region once again refused to vote.
Meanwhile The New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) have threatened to reject votes cast in the Volta and Ashanti regions respectively, due to what they perceived as irregularities that occurred during voting in the two regions.
Whilst the NPP claimed their agents, sent to monitor the elections in Volta region, were prevented from doing so amid attacks on them, the NDC also said their agents were attacked at the various polling stations in the Ashanti region, and could not sit to monitor the elections. The party also accused the police of indiscriminately arresting their agents and putting them in police cells.
Officials of the NPP, who were the first to address a news conference in Accra, said credible reports available to them indicated that most of their accredited agents had either been refused to monitor the voting process, or chased away while voting was going on.
Mr. Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey, National Campaign Chairman of the NPP, who addressed the press, said those fomenting violence wanted to prevent their party members from voting.
"We call on all Ghanaians who have the nation at heart, to condemn, utterly, these behaviours of the NDC, which put the progress and wellbeing of our country at risk." Mr. Obetsebi-Lamptey, supported by Dr. Kofi Konadu Apraku, Campaign Director, Nana Ohene-Ntow, General Secretary of the NPP, and others, said, "The Police must stop all gangs, especially motor-bicycles from continuing their terror tactics."
According to him, the results had further been compromised in Ashanti and Greater Accra regions, to the extent that some ballot boxes had allegedly been snatched by the NDC agents.
He said such activities of the NDC gangs were meant to create confusion and tension in the country. "As you are aware, we cannot expect a fair electoral outcome from South Dayi, Ho West, South Tongu, Anlo, North Tongu, Keta, and others from the Volta region."
Moments after the NPP press conference, the NDC also issued a press statement, where it threatened not to accept results of the election from the Ashanti region. The National Campaign Coordinator, Mr. Alex Segbefia, who signed the statement, said the election in the region amounted to abuse of power.
"There is more than compelling evidence, across the length and breadth of the country, that all is not well with the election process, and especially so in the Ashanti region and parts of the Eastern region.
"For a considerable period, the NDC has made requests to the EC regarding figures relating to proxy, transfer, and absentee lists, and special or early voting list from the Electoral Commission."
According to Mr. Segbefia, despite this demand, they had still not received the figures from the EC, saying, "We saw an abuse of the special voting in the Ashanti region barely five days ago. Now the proxy voting is being abused. Widespread intimidation, harassment, assaults and arrests of polling agents and NDC functionaries are rife and commonplace in the Ashanti region."
The NDC stressed further that the current position and state of affairs in Ashanti region, and parts of Eastern region, would make it difficult for figures from those regions to be accepted by the NDC, especially since in many polling stations , "our polling agents were not permitted by the electoral and security officers to participate in the vetting of voters for purposes of authentication."
The Campaign Coordinator noted that such an unacceptable situation had reached alarming proportions, as a number of NDC agents and supporters were either on admission in hospitals in the Ashanti region, or were receiving treatment, with others languishing in police cells.
"We warned the country about what the NPP was planning. Now the warning has become a reality. The world is watching us, and currently, we are failing ourselves us Ghanaians, based on developments in Ashanti and Eastern regions," NDC said.
Meanwhile there are fears that Ghana could find herself in constitutional crisis should both NDC and NPP carry out their threat to reject Ashanti and Volta votes. This means President Kufuor would have no president to hand over power to him
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