body-container-line-1
19.08.2009 NPP

NPP Floors Baba Jamal In Akwatia Polls

By Daily Guide
Dr Kofi AsareDr Kofi Asare
19.08.2009 LISTEN

Provisional results gathered yesterday from the six polling stations involved in the Akwatia parliamentary re-run indicate that the Jihad proclaimed by the National Democratic Congress' (NDC's) Baba Jamal has failed to yield any fruitful results.

Even though the Electoral Commission was yet to declare final results as at press time yesterday, provisional results suggest the New Patriotic Party's (NPP's) Dr. Kofi Asare has won the parliamentary seat by well over 2,000-vote difference, making Jamal an unprecedented three-time parliamentary loser.

After polling 1,011 of the valid votes cast, Dr. Asare thus won the seat with 17,000 votes while his opponent trailed woefully with 15,859, even after using all unorthodox means to poll 2,050 votes.

Interestingly, by 6.00pm yesterday, many NDC supporters in the constituency capital went into self-imposed curfew while the victorious NPP supporters went into spontaneous jubilation, drumming, dancing, and waving handkerchiefs.

And by 8.00pm when the actual curfew was to begin, security personnel posted to the area had nothing to do apart from clearing the merry-makers off the streets.

The results as at press time were:
AME Zion:
NPP-150, NDC-114
Lorry Station 'A':
NPP-80, NDC-348
Lorry Station 'B':
NPP-102, NDC- 339
Presby Church:
NPP-476, NDC-248
Yoruba Mosque 'A':
NPP- 138, NDC-484
Yoruba Mosque 'B':
NPP- 65, NDC- 517
While the NDC strongholds went dead like cemeteries, many of the party's bigwigs such as Dr. Kwabena Adjei (National Chairman), Asiedu Nketia (General Secretary), Alex Segbefia (Dep. Chief of Staff) and Samuel Ofosu Ampofo (Eastern Regional Minister) were nowhere to be found.

Earlier, harassment, intimidation, physical attacks, multiple voting, impersonation, name-calling and fragrant abuse of civil and criminal laws characterised yesterday's much talked-about voting.

Before the re-run, had amassed 16,889 votes in 83 polling stations as against Baba Jamal's 13,810.

The NDC therefore tried to use every unorthodox means to overturn the deficit of 3,079, hiring thugs as well as "Zongo" boys from Akwatia to chase NPP supporters with axes and other dangerous implements to prevent them from voting at the Presby Junior High School polling station, the center with the largest number of registered voters, which also happens to be an NPP stronghold.

These intimidations and attacks went on in the full glare of NDC bigwigs until the military came in and started chasing them in an effort to arrest them.

Some of them were arrested and sent to the police station.

NPP's former General Secretary, Dan Botwe, was attacked by these NDC hoodlums at the same Presby JHS polling station when he went there as an observer.

NPP's National Chairman was also heckled at the most notorious polling stations, Lorry Park "A" and "B" by these NDC hooligans.

Minors and non-residents were organised to vote with fake voter ID cards.

These people were asked to come very early to vote in place of actual registered voters and by the time the actual voters came to register, it was realised that those who came earlier on to vote were impersonators.

The police and the military were alerted and many other impersonators who had wanted to vote later were either arrested or turned away.

At Yuroba Mosque "B" polling station, electoral officers seized about 20 fake ID cards and turned away about 150 people who had wanted to vote in the name of other voters.

DAILY GUIDE followed up at the Akwatia police station, where only 16 suspects had been brought as a result of electoral malpractices.

DAILY GUIDE was also told that about 12 of the suspects had been transferred to Asamankese but the Asamankese police denied taking custody of such suspects.

It was learnt that anytime these people were arrested, NDC officials would quickly follow up at the police station and arrange for their release.

From Thomas Fosu Jnr, Akwatia

body-container-line