Mills votes, exudes confidence of victory

Accra, Dec. 28, GNA - Professor John Evans Atta Mills, Presidential candidate of the largest opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), on Sunday repeated his confidence to be the next president of Ghana when voting ends.

When Prof. Atta Mills finished casting his vote at the Golden Gate Polling Station in the Ledzokuku Constituency in the Greater Accra Region, he told journalists, amidst cheers from party fans and supporters that, he was confident he would win the presidential run-off.

He expressed thanks to God for the day, which, he said, had allowed for the run-off.

He, however, called on the Electoral Commission (EC), the umpire of the election, to address reported incidents of electoral "hiccups" at some areas in Kumasi, to avoid any rigging or cheating. Prof. Atta Mills arrived at the polling station with his wife Naadu at 1030 hours. He sported a white short sleeved shirt, black pair of trousers and black pair of shoes to match and waved to a crowd of supporters who applauded and cheered him as he walked to the electoral officers to be taken through the formalities.

Accompanied by Nii Nortey Dua, MP-elect for the Ledzokuku Constituency and other party officials, Prof. Atta Mills took four

minutes to go through the electoral formalities and finally cast his

vote as a host of cameramen and other journalists besieged him

for a statement. Prof. Mills described the process at the polling station as

smooth and orderly, but said he had reports of some

irregularities, about which the party had informed the EC and the

Inspector General of Police to take action. He rejected a suggestion that he trailed his main contender,

Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, candidate of the ruling New

Patriotic Party (NPP). He said so far as he was concerned neither of them won the

race for the presidency in the first round, and the will of the

people must be allowed to prevail in the run-off As he got back on his vehicle, Prof. Mills kissed his palms,

raised his head to the heavens, rolled his fingers, the sign of the

NDC campaign of change before the door finally closed for the

vehicle to leave the polling station.

Politics Election Region

Long queues were formed as early as at 0430 hours on

Sunday at Anaji, a suburb of Takoradi and other places in

anticipation of the start of presidential run-off at 0700 hours. At the STMA Primary Centre, the elderly, youth and the sick

were seen in queues. Speaking with the Ghana news Agency (GNA), Madam Mina

Baiden said together with others, she arrived at the polling station

to find a large number of people anxiously waiting for voting to

begin. She said even though the election officials arrived early, the

lack of adequate lighting in the area made it impossible for the

officials to set up on time. Mr Richard Allen, the Presiding Officer at the Well Road

Polling Station attributed the low turn-out to ongoing Church

services within the area. At the Collins Avenue Polling Station, one Ibrahim Yaaji,

aged 40, with voter identification number 24591844 (EJ) was

challenged by Mohammed Abubakari, a New Patriotic Party

(NPP) agent on the grounds that Yaaji was a Nigerian. Confusion broke out when an unidentified man slapped Yaaji

and bolted from the scene but the timely arrival of the military

prevented any further mishap. Speaking to the press, Mr Steve Opoku-Mensah, Western

Regional Director of the Election said a complaint form should be

filled in case a person's nationality or eligibility was questioned

for the police to handle the matter later. At the Cocoa Training School at Essikadu, 354 out of 1,741

had voted as at 0955 hours. Also at Gye-Nyame "A" Polling Station with a voter

population of 666, 156 had voted while at the Gye-Nyame "B"

168 people had voted at the centre at about 1000 hours. At Daboase, the DC Primary, Anglican Primary, KKBK and

Temporary Structure Polling Stations, voting started at exactly

0700 hours with long queues.