PAPO observers notice electoral irregularities
The Pan-African Parliament (PAP)
Observer Mission to Ghana on Tuesday said contrary to attempts by
the Electoral Commission to refute allegations of electoral
irregularities in some parts of the country, those allegations had been
proven to be true.
Mr Authmani Saidi Janguo of the PAP mission told journalists
that for instance in the Ashanti Region the team observed serious
electoral irregularities, ranging from unusually high numbers of
special voting and an unusual polling station layout, which excluded
party agents from having full view of the balloting process.
He said the allegations of unusually high numbers of special
voting in Kumasi were proved correct after vote counting, adding
that in constituencies such as Bantama, Nhyiaeso, Subin and
Kwadaso there were unusually high numbers of special votes.
He noted that in Kumasi, some polling agents refused to sign for
the polling results alleging irregularities.
“The PAP team witnessed the refusal by NDC agents to sign for
the results in Bantama sub-Metro polling station but there was no
complaint form available for them to fill as the procedure
demanded,” he said.
He said the team also observed worrying inconsistencies in the
layouts and settings, employed by polling officers at different polling
stations in Kumasi, adding that at some polling stations, particularly
Bantama sub-Metro, party agents were cordoned off the voting table
whiles at other stations they were allowed at the voting table.
“We also observed a worrying interference by heavily armed
police in the balloting process and hyper-activeness of the patrol
police when patrolling voting stations and violence between political
party supporters in the region,” he said.
Politics Elections PAP 2 Accra
Mr Janguo said in the Volta Region, particularly in Anloga, PAP
observers experienced difficulties with unruly and armed mobs that
had set up road blocks and ordered them off their vehicles and
searched their cars.
“This happened more than once as the mobs have set up
blockades in the area where the team was operating,” he said.
He said the team also observed that the Ghana-Togo border was
closed, and called for a review of the decision to close borders on
voting day.
Mr Janguo, however, noted that the irregularities observed had
not compromised the integrity of the electoral process and the
expressed majority will of the people of Ghana.
He described the electoral process across the country as
generally transparent and efficient and suggested that in subsequent
elections, party agents should be trained well and there should be
consistency in the training of polling officers.
“The colour of the indelible ink must be different from the one
used to thumb print and the voters' register must be organised in an
alphabetical order to facilitate quick reference of voters,” he said.
Mr Janguo said the use of more than one type of voters' register
should be reviewed to avoid confusion at the polling stations.
He said on the whole the December 28 run-off process satisfied
the basic conditions of credible, free and fair elections as contained
in the African Union (AU) Declaration on the Principles Governing
Democratic Elections in Africa, 2002.