The opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has described as unfortunate the EC’s attempt to rig the elections in favour of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP). General Secretary of the NDC, Mr. Johnson Asiedu Nketia says the ingredients to cook the election results could be found in the EC’s antics and incompetence.
The party, led by its General Secretary Johnson Asiedu Nketia and Deputy General Secretary, Peter Boamah Otunkonor, and other party bigwigs on the 7th of October filed the nomination forms for the party’s flagbearer, Mr. John Dramani Mahama at the EC’s Headquarters in Accra. This was after the NDC had failed to file their nomination forms at 11am. The delay was further extended after they also failed to honour the change in time of filing to 2pm. The party finally made an appearance at the EC’s IPAC Room, some minutes after 4pm and filed their nomination forms.
The EC chairperson, Jean Mensah after receiving the forms thanked the NDC and mentioned the EC will go to work immediately on the forms presented. She assured the NDC of fairness and transparency in the entire vetting process.
But, speaking moments after the submission of the forms, the NDC’s General Secretary, addressed the media and jabbed the EC for superintending over a process fraught with irregularities. According to Mr. Asiedu Nketia, the EC faltered in inserting an extant law on the declaration of assets, PNDC Law 280. He says the law has been replaced by Act 550 of 1998 and could not understand why the EC did not notice the anomaly. “You are telling us to swear an oath and declare our assets on a law that is not in existence”, Asiedu Nketia stated in his address.
Mr. Asiedu Nketia says although the odds are against the NDC they will not back down or even contemplate boycotting the December 7 polls.
“The NDC will win the elections and the EC will be compelled to declare the NDC as winners because the Ghanaians want us back”, he declared. He promised however of protecting the democracy of and the Independence won for Ghana through blood and toil. “We will not fail future generations”, he intoned.
He also questioned why the EC’s Headquarters is hugely militarized with the presence of military personnel all over. “Are we in Afghanistan?”, he quipped.
Mr. Asiedu Nketia again questioned the credibility of the entire process and activities leading into the December elections and fingered the NPP government of colluding with the EC to rig the December 7 polls.
By: Sefah-Danquah S