It’s not OK to endanger lives of other people’s children with your street battles – NPP to Mahama

The Campaign Manager of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the 2020 elections, Mr Peter Mac Manu, has urged the flag bearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mr John Dramani Mahama, to be truthful to his supporters that he lost the 2020 presidential election.

He said after the collation and declaration of results, the only remedy available to the NDC, if they disagreed with the collated and declared results, was to go to a court of competent jurisdiction to seek redress.

“We call on Mahama to tell his supporters the truth that he lost the election. It is okay if he wants to court the support of his party for another try in 2024, but it is not okay to endanger the lives of other people’s children and by that endanger the security of our country.

“Thus far, the security agencies have been professional in their handling of the provocations that Mahama has encouraged his supporters to foment. We cannot, however, be sure of what will happen if he continues to display such carelessness and irresponsibility in not wanting to go to the appropriate forum to seek redress but continue to fight for his battles from the streets,” Mr Mac Manu stressed.

Addressing a press conference at the NPP head office at Kokomlemle in Accra yesterday in response to the NDC’s claim that it won the Techiman South parliamentary seat, Mr Manu said: “It is obvious to the Ghanaian people that the NDC is not ready to be put to strict proof, and that all they want to do is court public disaffection for the Electoral Commission (EC) and by that reduce the legitimacy of the NPP victory in the eyes of well-meaning Ghanaians.”

Techiman South contest

Mr Mac Manu said the NDC had put out several results as representing what they called true results of Techiman South parliamentary election, indicating “that there could not be multiple truths and so which of the several results that the NDC has put out represents the true results of the Techiman parliamentary election?”

“The NDC initially said there was no collation in Techiman South. If there was no collation how can there be re-collation?” Mr Manu asked, and said: “Yesterday, the Minority in Parliament promised to display all 265 pink sheets from Techiman South but in the end they subjected viewers to fabricated images of an excel spreadsheet, not collated sheets of the EC.”

Pink sheets

Supported by the NPP parliamentary candidate for Techiman South, Mr Adjei Mensah Korsah, with copies of the pink sheets during a presentation, Mr Mac Manu described the NDC’s claim as “gross deceit and incompetence”, adding that the NDC claimed the NPP candidate obtained 50,013, while their candidate obtained 50,306 votes.

“On December 10, 2020, Johnson Asiedu Nketiah claimed that the NDC candidate polled 50,569, while the NPP candidate polled 49,874 votes, making a vote difference of 695. On December 11, 2020, Mahama claimed that the NDC parliamentary candidate gained 50,414, while the NPP parliamentary candidate obtained 49,825, in which case, according to candidate Mahama, the NDC candidate won with a difference of 592 votes.

“Then on December 21, 2020, the NDC parliamentary candidate himself Christopher Bayere, claimed on Joy FM that he won with a margin of 700. Around 4 p.m. on the same day, he claimed on the same Joy News that he won by 2,000 votes. Later the same day, the same candidate claimed he won with a margin of 825.

So if, we are to believe the NDC’s story that they won the Techiman South seat, did they win with a vote difference of 293?” the NPP Campaign Manager asked rhetorically.

NPP won

For the purposes of emphasis, he said, the NPP won the presidential election of 2020 and had tied with the NDC on parliamentary seats, at least for now.

“I say for now because we have signalled our intention to go to court to challenge the validity of a number of seats which the EC has declared for the NDC. We are also going to challenge some of their seats in the court of law and not on the streets,” Mr Mac Manu emphasised.

He said the party had assembled lawyers to challenge the results of seven parliamentary seats in the just-ended parliamentary poll in the 2020 general election.

The seats are Assin North, Cape Coast North, Pusiga, Bawku Central, Savelugu, Asuogyaman and Nkwanta North.