Ghana goes to the polls again to elect a President

Accra, Dec. 28, GNA - The quiet atmosphere in the Madina-Abokobi Constituency in the Ga-East area, could not be compared to the great enthusiasm that characterised the December 7, 2008, when Ghanaians first went to the polls. The very short queues in most polling stations in the Constituency were the visual indication of lost of enthusiasm on the part of voters in the Presidential run-off.

Some eligible voters the Ghana News Agency (GNA) interviewed were contemplating whether to vote or not, saying they were tired of going to queue for long hours, and that they preferred to stay in their homes and wait for the outcome of the election.

Voting however, took off smoothly at centres including the Presec Staff Primary "A" and "B" Polling stations, which are under the Tata-naa Electoral area, the Gospel J.H.S, in the Madina Estates and the Jamcol Temporal Booth all under the Madina-Abokobi Constituency in the Ga-East area. At those centres, voter turn-out had increased compared to the figures recorded during the December 28, Presidential and Parliamentary elections around the same time that GNA visited.

According to Mr Emmanuel Adzudzi, Presiding Officer of the Presec Staff Primary "A", 291 out of the over 1,273 eligible voters at the station had cast their ballot as at 09.15 hours compared to the 188 who had voted around the same tine on December 28. He said he had not encountered any problems with transferred voters. Mr Frank Mike Ewoxo, Presiding Officer for Presec Staff Primary "B" had recorded 275 out of 1,339 eligible voters as at 9.20 hours compared to 251 recorded at the same time on December 28 and had also not encountered any problems. At the Gospel J.H.S also in the Madina Estates, 316 out of over the 1, 341 eligible voters had cast their ballots as at 10.05 hours. Mr Fred Agbenaza, Presiding Officer said voting started at exactly 07.00 with just a few people casting their ballots at the time. The Jamcol Temporal Booth had also recorded 380 out of the over 1,347 eligible voters as at 10.10 hours.

Voter attitude towards the whole electoral process had been lukewarm as most people were seen around the area attending to their respective private businesses, though eligible voters were still trickling in to cast their ballots. There were security personnel from the Ghana Police Service, Ghana National Fire Service and the Customs Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS) and Party Agents from both the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC). The major difference in the Presidential run-off to that of the December 7, Presidential and Parliamentary elections people are going about it in a more relaxed manner.