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31.05.2013 Feature Article

Ghana Has Become A Hostage Of NDC

Ghana Has Become A Hostage Of NDC
31.05.2013 LISTEN

Preamble
Voting according to article 42 of the 1992 constitution took place on the 7th of December 2012. The voting was suspended due to breakdown of the ordered biometric machines. Voting resumed on December 8th 2012 at some polling stations. Please note, only at some polling stations.

Comments
The Electoral Commissioner did not give any hints of a pre-trial of the newly acquired machines. This therefore is a clear indication of the first failure and incompetence of the Electoral Commissioner.

Nobody knows who caused the newly acquired biometric machines to malfunction.

In the interest of fairness NPP representatives should have been informed and asked to ascertain the true nature of the defect of the machines. The EC should however not assume that NPP can be expected to trust the information given them about the state of the newly acquired machines. Most importantly, the petitioners should have been informed about how the defect in the machines was rectified. Anyone who believes in fair end free elections should have at least increased or helped to increase the transparency about the whole issue of machine malfunctioning.

I wish at this juncture to remind Dr. Wireko-Brobbey that the incompetence I have mentioned above could not have been prematurely avoided by anyone and for that matter not by NPP but rather by the Electoral Commissioner himself, Dr. Afari-Gyan. I may remind Dr. Brobbey of his own accusation of rigging, during the NPP's primaries in Kumasi. How come that he could not prevent what he termed as bribery and corruption as well as the rigging of the Flagbearership of NPP during their own elections?

The Declaration
Declaration of President John Mahama as the president of the Republic of Ghana took place on the 9th of December, 2012. The petitioners, scenting that the declaration of the president was prematurely done and that the figures presented by the Electoral Commissioner according to them were doubtful, prevailed upon Dr. Afari-Gyan to suspend the declaration, because the petitioners maintained that they had uncovered some discrepancies which could affect the final results of the presidential election. Surprisingly, Afari-Gyan did not listen to the complaints in detail, refused to investigate the complaints and simply asked the petitioners to go to court if they were not satisfied with the result of the elections.

At his juncture I wish to draw the attention of the readers as well as the Supreme Court Judges to the fact that such behaviour is contradictory to the notion of free and fair elections. I scent bias here. The EC is quoted to have said, the petitioners could sue the Electoral Commission if they felt dissatisfied with the results.

Afari-Gyan must resign forthwith
By his action the Electoral Commissioner has failed to realise that anyone who was or is directly or indirectly party to a fraudulent election is liable to prosecution through negligence. The judges must be told clearly that Dr. Afari-Gyan must be judged by his personal and general inefficiency. The breakdown of the machines at the critical moment when they were badly needed show clearly lack of skill and experience that may reasonably be expected of a person in his position. The SC judges must be told that they should make Afari-Gyan personally liable for the loss of votes.

The allegations
The petitioners have alleged the following:
Gross and wide-spread irregularities at 11,916 polling stations, and now they say they are relying on 11,138 polling stations. Furthermore, there are stations where they claim there have been over-voting, voting without biometric verification, some polling stations with the same serial numbers. These are the allegations the petitioners are making and the people of Ghana expect Afari-Gyan to comment specifically on these issues and not to give lectures to the judges as if he was in a lecture room. But before I go on, I would like the readers to be informed about proper definitions or how over-voting is defined.

This is defined as ballot-stuffing and it is the type of electoral fraud whereby a person who is permitted only 1 vote submits multiple ballots. I hope the Ghanaian journalists are reading these definitions carefully. It can also happen that if a person instead of casting his vote in a single booth casts his or her vote in multiple booths (I hope Ben Ephson is reading this definition). So, what Dr. Bawumia described as over-voting is what technically is described as ballot-stuffing. This can take place in various forms.

1) A ballot stuffer casts vote on behalf of people who did not show up at the votes at all.

2) This type of ballot-stuffing is described as telegraphing (if Dr. Bawumia does not know about telegraphing I hope Asiedu-Nketia should know).

3) Some votes will be cast by fictitious characters using the names of people who are long dead. This process is known as padding.

4) Most election systems match the number of persons showing up to vote with the number of ballots cast. The definitions mentioned here are internationally accepted definitions. It should not be difficult for justice Atuguba to know the true definition of ballot stuffing. I sent a letter to the Supreme Court entitled 'Invalidating the Presidential Elections in Ghana'.

5) Of course, there have been fateful errors. These errors have been accepted by the EC, by Asiedu-Nketia and by Tsikata. All these people have accepted that there have been errors. Errors in elections lead normally to annulment of the votes. Ghana should not be an exception here. If the votes which have been described as fateful errors are annulled then there will not be any need for long lectures by Afari-Gyan and for Mr. Nketia to create his own definitions. To facilitate matters video cameras or mobile phones are used to capture ballot stuffing. This was however banned by Dr. Afari-Gyan. This is another evidence of his deliberate attempt to rig the elections. Dear Dr. Wireko-Brobbey, and dear Mr. Ephson, please note ballot stuffing and fateful errors always invariably lead to cancellation of votes. Anyone who does not recognise this fact and any judge who refuses to recognise this internationally accepted behaviour will propel Ghana into a serious civil war. Nobody's vote should be disallowed.

Mr. Asiedu-Nketia known for his ability to coin words always in self-defence, stated, and I quote, that 'extra ballots are unidentified materials and not over-voting'. This statement was made in front of eminent judges and no one queried him. There is no word like 'Unidentified Material in Electoral Process'. The petitioners will be well advised to demand from this man the source of his quotation. This man is the same person who arranged for the merger between NDC and FDP. This merger which, according to our constitution automatically means that NDC as a party is no more in existence, hurriedly coined a word stating that 'NDC is a bigger party which like amoeba has engulfed FDP which is a smaller party'. I live and work in Germany and I must say that this Asiedu-Nketia reminds be perfectly well of Goebbels. What most Ghanaians do not realise is this: our nation, our Ghana, is heading towards extreme danger. He is not only taking Ghanaians but also the Supreme Court for a ride. He has coined his own word 'unidentified material' and no one seems to have asked him the source of that expression. He is by his actions disenfranchising millions of Ghanaians their right to be represented by the party of their choice.

If anyone thought that this Asiedu-Nketia is alone he is making a mistake because he has been joined by another erratic personality who apparently needs anger management because of a possible disruptive behaviour disorder. I insist that the petitioners should pin this Asiedu-Nketia down to either declare or to state the source of his definition. He should not be allowed to continue with his 'Affentheater', meaning monkey jamboree. He is a notorious man always talking nonsense. This Asiedu-Nketia said, and I quote: 'voters were not searched before they voted'. He is right because there should have been voting security like elsewhere in Europe. The EC failed to put proper measures in place to prevent voter fraud. Therefore the EC must face the music.

Clerical Errors
Asiedu-Nketia continued that there were Clerical Errors. This should be good news for the petitioners because all errors must be nullified.

Allegation Denial
The respondents cannot deny the allegations of irregularities in the election. Mr. Tsikata, Dr. Afari-Gyan and at last Asiedu-Nketia have all admitted irregularities. These irregularities have somehow all affected the result of the elections. It does not require much knowledge of electoral fraud to conclude that the irregularities, the ballot stuffing, the breakdown of the machines, have all contributed to the conclusion of electoral fraud. Omissions, irregularities, malpractices, have all admittedly taken place and thus affected the conduct of the elections.

Wrong strategy by the petitioners
The petitioners did put all their eggs into one basket. They should have presented their case in a fashion that would have neutralised Mahama and Tsikata. They should have initially sought to have invalidated the whole election, thus preventing Mahama from having incumbency advantage. Their strategy to unseat Mahama was based mainly on figures, not realising that if that fails they would lose everything.

They should have known that electoral fraud is defined as any illegal interference with the process of an election. Acts of fraud affect whole vote counts to bring about an election result whether by increasing the number of votes share of the favoured candidates while depressing the vote share of the rival candidate or both. That's all that was required before the law.

Thus, Tsikata has been exposed as someone beating about the bush. Voter fraud, on the other hand, includes illegal voter registration and intimidation. Please note that intimidation is a great strategy of public display of power and authority intended to evidence their control of political power.

In conclusion, I am a Ghanaian whose main interest is to seek the truth and make sure that our newly found democracy survives. In the midst of extreme poverty, corruption, armed robbery, we should do everything to prevent civil war because that will make our lives still more miserable. It is only because of this that I am determined to seek for the truth and nothing but the truth. As far as I am concerned the presidential 2012 election has been rigged by NDC and not by Mahama.

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