Ghana - Opposition NPP Protests Presidential Results In Kumasi
https://nigeriaafrica1.blogspot.com/2012/12/ghana-opposition-npp-protests.html
Thousands of supporters of Ghana's main opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) protested on Tuesday to demand justice and the return of the people's will by the country's Electoral Commission (EC).
"We simply demand the return of our votes allotted to President John Dramani Mahama of the governing party," local constituency chairman Odeneho Kwaku Appiah stated, saying "We shall continue our protests until our demand is met."
The protesters marched in the capital of the Ashanti Region, known to be the stronghold of the opposition NPP, yelling anti- government slogans before gathering at Ash-Town Community Park where the leaders addressed them.
A series of previous gatherings involving the presidential candidate, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, and other NPP bigwigs at Obra Spot, were held in the capital city, Accra.
The NPP officially "rejected" the final results of the country's presidential election in which incumbent President John Dramani Mahama was declared the winner.
The EC on Dec. 9 announced Mahama of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) won 50.70 percent of the total valid votes, avoiding a runoff, while his NPP challenger Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo got 47.74 percent.
But the NPP's general secretary Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie, told a gathering of supporters that going to court to challenge the election result was non-negotiable.
He said the party had solid and incontrovertible evidence of election fraud which it intended pursuing at the Supreme Court.
According to him, the party had secured more than 24,000 of the EC's result sheets from its polling station agents across the country.
"We have conducted an audit into the collated figures and uncovered a well-planned systematic stealing of votes at the collation level," Owusu-Afriyie, also known as Sir John, noted.
He alleged that in one of such instances, results from a polling station in the Volta Region, a stronghold of the ruling NDC, exceeded the voter population there.
He accused Kwadwo Afari Gyan, Chairman of the commission, of having perpetrated injustice, noting his name would be written in the annals of election fraud in this country.
NPP National Chairman Jake Obetsebi Lamptey said the NPP had taken time to gather the needed evidence to make a strong case, adding the legal team was in the process of tightening loose ends of the charges to be presented at the Supreme Court.
The protesters marched in the capital of the Ashanti Region, known to be the stronghold of the opposition NPP, yelling anti- government slogans before gathering at Ash-Town Community Park where the leaders addressed them.
A series of previous gatherings involving the presidential candidate, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, and other NPP bigwigs at Obra Spot, were held in the capital city, Accra.
The NPP officially "rejected" the final results of the country's presidential election in which incumbent President John Dramani Mahama was declared the winner.
The EC on Dec. 9 announced Mahama of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) won 50.70 percent of the total valid votes, avoiding a runoff, while his NPP challenger Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo got 47.74 percent.
But the NPP's general secretary Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie, told a gathering of supporters that going to court to challenge the election result was non-negotiable.
He said the party had solid and incontrovertible evidence of election fraud which it intended pursuing at the Supreme Court.
According to him, the party had secured more than 24,000 of the EC's result sheets from its polling station agents across the country.
"We have conducted an audit into the collated figures and uncovered a well-planned systematic stealing of votes at the collation level," Owusu-Afriyie, also known as Sir John, noted.
He alleged that in one of such instances, results from a polling station in the Volta Region, a stronghold of the ruling NDC, exceeded the voter population there.
He accused Kwadwo Afari Gyan, Chairman of the commission, of having perpetrated injustice, noting his name would be written in the annals of election fraud in this country.
NPP National Chairman Jake Obetsebi Lamptey said the NPP had taken time to gather the needed evidence to make a strong case, adding the legal team was in the process of tightening loose ends of the charges to be presented at the Supreme Court.
