Demo Rocks Sunyani NPP

A GROUP of delegates and members of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) yesterday embarked on a peaceful demonstration in Sunyani, the Brong-Ahafo Regional capital, demanding a recount of the ballots cast during the recently held parliamentary primaries of the party at the Sunyani East constituency.

The group, known as 'Concerned Citizens and Delegates of Sunyani East Constituency,' argued that their candidate, Ambassador George Kumi, was not treated fairly, hence their demand for a recount of the ballots.

In a petition presented to the Brong-Ahafo Regional secretary of the NPP, Alfred Ofori Annye, the group described the entire conduct of the primaries as 'unfair.' According to members, one ballot paper was not accounted for.

They also accused the Sunyani Municipal Director of the Electoral Commission (EC), Yaw Opoku, of rigging the election. They again accused him of compromising his position to the advantage of the incumbent, Kwasi-Cheremeh.

Speaking to DAILY GUIDE, the spokesperson of the group, Emmanuel Ayamba, stated that Mr George Kumi's campaign team demanded a recount of the ballots after the poll at the centre since there were some discrepancies in the electoral process, but the EC official did not oblige.

He mentioned that the group would do everything in its power to ensure that Ambassador Kumi's name appeared on the ballot paper in the 2016 national elections.

Receiving the petition, Mr. Alfred Annye assured the demonstrators that the party would do its best to ensure that their grievances and concerns were addressed.

The demonstrators held placards that had various inscriptions like: 'Ameyaw stole our one ballot,' 'Sunyani Mugabe, where is our one vote?' 'Operation 80,000 votes, No Retreat,' 'Let My Vote Count,' 'No Kumi, No Vote,' among others. The police were present to provide security for the demonstrators and to ensure order and sanity.

Later addressing the demonstrators, Ambassador George Kumi said that he had sent a petition to the party headquarters and the Electoral Commission and was hopeful that his concerns would be addressed.

He also said he was willing to offer his support to Mr Ameyaw-Cheremeh if a recount of the ballots was done and showed that he lost the election fairly.

The former Ghana's envoy to Nigeria and Libya promised the demonstrators that he was poised to fulfill all the promises he made to the constituents during his campaign.

It would be recalled that Mr Ameyaw Cheremeh won the keenly contested primaries with a difference of one vote, obtaining 388 votes to beat Ambassador George Kumi, who had 387 votes. There were two rejected ballots.

From Joyce Mensah, Sunyani