NPP, NDC Accuse Each Other Over Atiwa Seat
The National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) have traded accusations over vote buying and rigging ahead of the by-election in the Atiwa Constituency in the Eastern Region.
While the NPP claims that its intelligence reports indicate that the NDC is devising strategies to buy votes, the NDC has rebutted the accusations, saying that because of the fear of losing the by-election, top officials of the NPP are moving from house to house to register the names of deceased persons and give their particulars to their sympathisers to vote in the election on Tuesday, August 21, 2010.
The Atiwa seat was declared vacant following the death of Kwasi Annoh Ankama, the Member of Parliament (MP) for the area.
The front runners in the by-election are NDC’s Mr Emmanuel Atta Twum and NPP’s Mr Kwasi Amoako-Attah.
When contacted, the Eastern Regional Organiser of the NDC, Mr Tawiah Boateng, rebuffed the claims and allegations made by the NPP that the NDC would go all out to rig the elections.
Rather, he said since the Atiwa Constituency was perceived as the stronghold of the NPP, top officials of the party were moving from house to house to register the names of deceased persons to prepare voter cards for their sympathisers to vote during the election.
He said given the track record of the NDC parliamentary candidate, Mr Emmanuel Atta Twum, the NPP faithful were afraid of losing their stronghold, hence the resort to the various negative strategies to woo the electorate to their side.
Commenting on security arrangements for a peaceful by-election, the Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, said the Eastern Regional Security Council had met to discuss the safety and security of the people and property during the election.
According to him, a number of security personnel would be detached to all the 113 polling stations in the Atiwa Constituency, pointing out that “with the maximum security presence, the violent and lawless attitudes of any group of individuals will not be countenanced”.
He assured the electorate that the security would do everything possible to create a congenial atmosphere for them to exercise their franchise, since “our security personnel will live up to expectation”.
During a campaign tour of some communities in the Atiwa Constituency, the National Organiser of the NPP, Alhaji Muctar Bamba, said intelligent reports picked up by the NPP revealed that the NDC was allegedly distributing assorted items such as mobile phones and bags of rice and sugar to potential voters to influence their voting decisions.
Additionally, he alleged that the NDC had also bussed a number of macho men (known as Azoka boys) into the constituency to intimidate the electorate to turn up in their numbers to exercise their franchise on the voting day.
The tour, which took him to New Jejeti, Akyem Sekyere, Abekwase, Abomosu, Subiriso, Asunafo and Krobomo, was later joined by the party’s flag bearer, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, and other top officials of the party.
The NPP National Organiser said since the NDC had recognised the Atiwa Constituency as the stronghold of the NPP, they had devised various negative and violent strategies to rig the by-election.
He recounted the violence that characterised the Akwatia election and the Chereponi by-election, and, therefore, appealed to the government, the Electoral Commission, security agencies and other stakeholders to ensure that the Atiwa election were conducted in a violent-free atmosphere.
Alhaji Bamba also urged the electorate to be extra vigilant and report the presence of strangers in the communities prior to and during the election to the nearest police.
For his part, Nana Akuffo Addo said many of the social interventions such as the National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP), the Capitation Grant, the School Feeding Programme and the Mass Cocoa Spraying exercise that were introduced under the NPP administration were almost on the verge of collapse due to mismanagement.
He, therefore, appealed to the people to vote massively for the NPP parliamentary candidate, whom he described as the “best candidate with a thorough knowledge about the problems facing the development of Atiwa”.
“As the Presiding Member of the Atiwa District Assembly for the past eight years, Mr Amoako Attah, who knows every cranny and nooks of the district, stands a better chance to articulate your concerns and needs in parliament when voted,” he added.