FULL STATEMENT: Speaking Notes on Recent Developments on the 2020 Elections
SPEAKING NOTES ON RECENT DEVELOPMENTS ON THE
2020 ELECTIONS AT A PRESS BRIEFING ADDRESSED BY HON ELVIS AFRIYIE-ANKRAH,
DIRECTOR OF ELECTIONS OF THE NATIONAL DEMOCRATIC CONGRESS; THURSDAY 3RD
DECEMBER, 2020 AT NDC HEADQUARTERS, ACCRA
We have taken note of the press
conference by the Electoral Commission suggesting they are ready for the 2020
elections even though the demeanor of Jean Mensa shows otherwise. We in the NDC can only wish the EC well. We
have done our best to advise and draw their attention to many issues that we
believe must be addressed in the interest of free, fair and credible elections.
Unfortunately, they appear to “know-it-all” and therefore refuse to heed to our
calls.
We invited you here to share some of
these rather serious concerns with you.
DISENFRANCHISEMENT
OF SECURITY PERSONNEL TUESDAY’S SPECIAL VOTING
Two days ago, we received widespread
reports of missing names of several security personnel in the special voters
register. We raised concerns about the deliberate omission of names from the
special voters register. Other stakeholders raised similar concerns. We called
on the EC to rectify this problem but they blatantly refused to do so.
Special Voting is reserved for
persons such as security personnel, journalists and Electoral Commission
officials who due to elections duties will not be able to vote on voting day.
Our agents observed that the names of many such persons were omitted from the
register. Instead the list was full of the names of NPP members who had no role
to play in the elections.
Our investigations show that this
was a deliberate attempt to frustrate security personnel who were suspected to
be NDC sympathizers. This is how our beloved country has degenerated under the
FAILED and CORRUPT AKUFO-ADDO GOVERNMENT.
This is part of the grand scheme to
disenfranchise Ghanaians in the upcoming elections. The overall effect of this
development is that some security personnel have to choose between going to
vote on 7th December or going to where they have been assigned on
election duties. It is unfortunate that our men in uniform are being put
through such frustration.
We extend our sympathy to affected
persons and wish to urge them to ensure that they exercise their franchise come
7th December. We are calling on the IGP as chairman of the election
security task force to ensure that affected persons are deployed to areas where
they can easily vote to ensure that they are not disenfranchised.
We are cautioning the EC to ensure
that every prospective voter has their name in the voters register on 7th
December. Any widespread disenfranchisement will not be acceptable to the NDC
and Ghanaians.
FAKE
RESULTS FROM SPECIAL VOTING
We have information that apologists
of the NPP government are going round saying that the FAILED AKUFO-ADDO won the
special votes. This is preposterous to say the least. A commander-in-Chief who
has worsened the living conditions of our men in uniform. Akufo-Addo also
continues to promote indiscipline in our security agencies leading to low
morale. The only thing he deserves is to be voted out.
We wish to assure Ghanaians that
ballots from yesterday’s special voting will be counted on 7th
December after voting and we in the NDC are confident that our men in uniform
want H.E. John Mahama back as their commander in chief.
We wish to sound a caution that no
one should tamper with the ballot boxes at the respective polling stations.
We call on Ghanaians to remain
vigilant at police stations where ballot boxes of the special voting are being
kept so that no one will temper with them.
Our collation agents will inspect
and cross-check to ensure that such ballot boxes have not tampered with before
they are counted on 7th December. We shall reject and order forensic
audit of all such ballots.
DESTRUCTION
OF ‘HIDDEN’ BALLOT PAPERS PARCELED FOR ASHANTI REGION
One of the challenges with face with
the Jean Mensa led EC is their dishonesty. Contrary to their oath of office,
they have been dishonest to Ghanaians on several occasions. It is for this
reason that we don’t find them credible.
A classic case in point is the over
one million hidden presidential ballot papers meant for Ashanti Region that our
agents discovered at INNOLINK Printing Press one of the 7 printing houses
selected by the Electoral Commission to print ballot papers for Ashanti, Upper
West and Western North Regions.
The standard practice is that, after
printing of ballot papers the plates and the waste papers are destroyed under a
certificate of disposal signed by party agents and other stakeholders. This was
done for Innolink on 20th November 2020.
Subsequently, the ballot papers for
Ashanti Region were dispatched to the region on 22nd November, 2020.
However, on 25th November
the agents were invited to witness the re-printing of ballot papers to replace
defective ballot papers for Afigya Kwabre South Constituency only to discover
the over 1 million presidential ballots parceled and concealed in one of the
rooms.
Our agents raised an alarm and
immediately insisted that the ballot papers should be shredded. Stakeholders
agreed and the ballots were cut into pieces.
On
27th November we invited the media to witness the destruction of the
ballot papers.
It
comes therefore to us as a surprise that the EC has denied this incident and
misleading the general public that these were waste ballots.
There
are therefore more questions than answers
If
the ballots were waste ballots, why were they not destroyed at the time that
the other waste ballots and plates were destroyed?
If
these were waste ballots, why were they parceled and concealed in a different
room and the agents were never informed?
The
duplicity of the EC is legendary!
John
8:44
Ye
are of you father the devil and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a
murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no
truth in him. When he speaks of his own: for he is a liar and the father of all
liars.
MISSING
NAMES IN THE VOTERS REGISTER
The confusion surrounding the final
register for the 2020 election is a major cause for concern. The EC claims that
the names of some prospective voters cannot be found in their database so the
list has been provided at affected polling stations.
Some persons who challenged their
inclusion on the multiple voters registration list were also successful and
therefore have to be included in the list of missing names. Affected persons
are over 800.
The implication is that all these
persons cannot be verified through the biometric system and therefore have to
be verified manually in addition to those cannot be verified through the
biometric system or facial identification.
You will recall, that one of the key
arguments the EC raised in favour of the compilation of a new voters register.
We can all attest to the fact that these developments defeat the objectives of
the EC because manual verification has the potential of promoting multiple
voting. This is a major challenge for which we introduced a biometric register.
Our intelligence suggests that this
system deficiency can be deliberately exploited to facilitate multiple voting.
The scheme we have uncovered is that some party supporters will be given some
unique identification such as wrist bands. Such persons on arrival at polling
stations will be issued multiple ballot papers to engage in multiple voting.
Some of these persons will also move from one polling station to another to
engage in multiple voting. We are calling on the general public to be vigilant
at polling stations and look out for such characters and report them to the
police. We hereby serve notice to persons who will be engaged in multiple
voting that it is a criminal offence which is punishable by law and we shall make
sure they are prosecuted come January 7, 2021.
These developments also have the
potential to create confusion during ballot accounting.
We hereby inform the people of Ghana
that if there is any confusion in this election, Jean Mensa, Bossman Asare,
Samuel Tetteh, Siriboe Quarcoo, Asante Kissi
should be held responsible. Conspiracy to manipulate election is
tantamount to a high crime of subverting the constitution and the will of the
people. These persons must be reminded that there is no limitation period for
the prosecution of criminal offences and that they can be prosecuted at anytime
while they are alive. If these people have family members, they should advise
them accordingly.
CAUTION
AGAINST HASTY DECLARATION OF RESULTS
We have had cause to caution the EC
against the hasty declaration of election results. It is proper that as
returning officer for the Presidential Elections, Jean Mensa should take her
time to certify results from all 275 constituencies before declaration of
results.
Can the EC confirm or deny that it
has outsourced the collation of results to one KINGSFORD BOATENG who works with
Vodafone. If this is true, the EC should advise itself and rescind that
decision IMMEDIATELY as this is unconstitutional.
Information available to us suggests
that the EC is conniving with some elements to hastily declare results and then
lockdown the country thereafter.
We wish to serve notice that we
shall not accept the declaration of inaccurate results. With many Ghanaians
supporting us, we shall employ all legitimate means to ensure that the EC
declares only accurate results. The NDC will not consider going to court as
option.
We are however happy that in
addition to our own collation system, many independent organizations such as
the Coalition of Domestic Election Observers (CODEO) and various media houses
will also be collating results which will serve as a check on the EC.
IRREGULAR
VOTE TRANSFERS
We have discovered that some votes
have been transferred to various polling stations without the knowledge of
affected persons. Vote transfers are based on applications. It is only upon
such requests that the EC transfers votes. The transfer of votes to polling
stations without the knowledge of affected persons therefore gives us cause for
concern over what may have occasioned that. This development has the potential
of disenfranchising people and causing chaos on Election Day.
VOTING
AT POLICE TRAINING SCHOOLS
It has come to our attention that
the EC is creating polling stations in police training schools without prior
notice to political parties. This has come as surprise to us since polling
stations have already been gazetted. We are calling on the EC to abandon such
plans as police recruits can visit their polling stations and vote without any
difficulty. In any case, there was opportunity for vote transfer for students
which the EC should have utilized for this purpose.
PRINTING
OF EXCESS BALLOT PAPERS
Stakeholders
agreed that instead of printing of excess ballot papers, larger denominations
can be used to replace shortages and vice versa. Unfortunately, the EC has
authorized the printing of excess ballot papers for some constituencies. For
instance in Greater Accra a total of 72,000 excess presidential ballot papers have
been printed for 30 out of 34 constituencies. Some 9,250 excess parliamentary
ballots have also been printed. The EC is printing additional 140,505 ballots
in 30 constituencies in Greater Accra alone. This dangerous as it may lead to
ballot stuffing. We are calling on the EC to destroy all such excess ballot
papers as agreed at the last IPAC meeting.
USE
OF ILLEGAL RESULTS COLLATION SHEETS (STATEMENT OF POLL/PINK SHEET)
We cautioned the EC over attempts to
use an illegal results collation sheet contrary to Regulation 37 of C.I 127.
The new statement of poll is designed to capture only persons verified manually
and will not capture the number of persons verified with the biometric device.
This is illegal. We therefore asked the EC to rectify this situation before 7th
December.
AUDIO
BY AN OFFICIAL ON AN EVIL AGENDA TO RENDER THE BALLOT PAPERS OF PERSONS WHO
VOTE FOR JOHN MAHAMA INVALID
“The
boys should stamp here, when that is done the stamp will go to Mahama’s
position and that will show at number two and when someone thump prints for Mahama, the stamp and the
thump print will compete so the polling agents will battle for rejection of the
ballot paper, the correct place to place the stamp is at the right corner of the
ballot paper, when it is placed at the right corner, it won’t affect anyone… So
try and tell all the agents that when they are stamping they should stamp at
the right corner of the ballot paper- that is the right place to stamp. Their
boys within the EC have been told to stamp here, which will go to show at
second,{no.2) and the agents will battle that this must be rejected after
voting.. that is the connection they have done.
So
I’ve told my people, Dr.Kofi ...(last name not clear) so I’ve sent to them-
they are also strong NDC members so they’ve taken the message- ok, then let’s
move on to the next one- Secondly, they told us that when the results are
declared ( there was arguments there) a number will be given us, so we should
send the results through that number to Accra before sending it to our
districts .. this has not happened before, that we should send the results to
Jean’s office first before sending the pink sheet later and we were like, what is this?
So
they said Jean wants to get the results latest by 6pm and what if by 6:00 o’clock
people are still in the queue voting … “ it is even by 5pm that voting ends”
SECURITY
IN THE VOLTA REGION
We remain worried about security in
the Volta Region in the upcoming elections. We are receiving reports of arrests
and intimation of innocent citizens under the guise of the government sponsored
Western Togoland Group. Today, there are several intimidating military barriers
in the region. We are aware of government plans to use the same group to cause
disturbances in the region between tomorrow and voting day as a justification
for voter suppression and possible disruption of the election in the region. We
are cautioning government to abandon such plans as the consequences will be
disastrous.
We wish to encourage the people of
the Volta Region to remain fearless throughout the Electioneering period.
Security personnel who will be deployed for election duties are supposed to
protect the ballot and ensure peace and not to harm you. In addition, we call
on the all Christians, Muslims, Traditionalists and believers in other
religions in the Volta Region to pray against any disturbances during the
elections.
Remember our history of bravery and
fearlessness in Nortsie. How our ancestors through wit and wisdom escaped the
autocratic leadership of King Agorkoli of Nortsie in Benin. It is with this
great wisdom that the people of the Volta Region must work to escape the
dictatorship, wickedness and curruption of Akufo-Addo who is the present day
Agorkoli.
We call on the good people of Ghana
to FEARLESSLY come out in their numbers and vote out the “MOTHER SERPENT OF
CORRUPTION -NANA AKUFO-ADDO”.
LOW
MORALE IN THE GHANA ARMED FORCES
We are aware of the low morale in
the Ghana Armed Forces as a result of complicity by some senior officers over
acts of injustice and ill treatment. We wish to assure all ranks in the army
that President Mahama will work hard to restore the discipline, order and
dignity in the army come January 7, 2021. We wish to encourage officers who
will be deployed on election duties to stay true to the constitution by
cracking down hoodlums who will be deployed during elections in uniform. Such
characters are giving the otherwise well respected security agencies a bad
name. It is the duty of officers to rise up to the occasion by restoring the
dignity of their respected profession. History will be on the side of officers
who do this.
DISENFRANCHISING
PERSONS WITHOUT NOSE MASKS AT POLLING STATIONS IS UNCONSTITUTIONAL
We found it awful that the EC turned
away persons without nose masks at polling stations in yesterday’s special
voting. The EC further defended their action in media interviews saying
everyone is enjoined to wear nose masks. This singular is not only unconstitutional
but ridiculous. What is more disturbing is that Parliament approved budget to
the EC to procure nose masks for persons who may show up without them so they
will not be disenfranchised. It is therefore strange that the EC will turn
around to prevent such persons from voting.
We wish to caution the EC against
this practice on 7th December. The EC must make provision for nose
masks at polling stations for persons who may not have.
We are also calling on the
electorate who may not have nose masks to improvise by using any piece of cloth
or handkerchiefs to cover their nose. Women can also use their scarfs or
‘mayafi’ to cover their nose. Nothing should discourage us from voting this
failed and corrupt Akufo-Addo government out.
USE
OF MOBILE PHONES AT POLLING STATION
We have taken note of the EC’s
public announcement and educational campaigns discouraging the use of mobile
phones at polling stations. This directive is illegal as it infringes on the
rights of voters. We note that the EC rationalized this illegal directive by
explaining that they don’t want voters to take pictures of persons they vote
for because that will compromise the secrecy of their votes. However, this
development happens only during party primaries and not during general elections.
The EC cannot use that as an excuse to deny voters access to their phones at
polling stations.
We are calling on voters to be
vigilant at polling stations. We encourage voters to take pictures and videos
of Election Day activities especially happenings at the polling stations and
share them widely on social media.
MESSAGE
TO PRESIDING OFFICIALS AND TEMPORAL EC STAFF AT POLLING STATIONS
You are privileged to be selected to
assist in the conduct of this year’s elections. Ghanaians are therefore looking
up to you to do your work fairly and conscientiously. Remember that electoral
offences are punishable by law and anyone found engaging in such malpractice
will be sanctioned accordingly.
If you collude to cheat in these
elections it amounts to subversion of the sovereign will of Ghanaians and the
constitution and this constitutes the highest crime of treason.
We are not asking for any favours.
We believe that if you do work well, the NDC will undoubtedly remain
victorious. You must work to ensure that only the will of the people prevail.
CONCLUSION
We are reminding the Electoral
Commission especially Jean Mensa, Bossman Asare, Samuel Tetteh, Siriboe Quarco,
Asante Kissi and anyone concerned with the evil plan to subvert the will of
Ghanaians through rigging to abandon any such plans in their own interest.
We thank the good people of Ghana
for their support so far. We are particularly grateful to those who continue to
share vital information with us on what is going on their communities. We wish
to encourage them to continue to do so. If you see anything suspicious, record,
take pictures and videos and share with us.
Our vigilance has resulted in our
ability to uncover and expose all the evil agenda of the NPP. It is this
vigilance that we need from each and every Ghanaian between now till elections
are over.
We wish to assure our supporters and
the people of Ghana the NDC is well prepared for the elections and to form a
new government come January 7, 2021 under the able leadership of H.E. John
Dramani Mahama.
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