Nduom: 2012 elections lacked credibility; supports NPP’s petition

The flag bearer of the Progressive People’s Party (PPP) in the 2012 general election, Dr Papa Kwesi Nduom has added his voice to the claims by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) that the December 7 election was fraught with irregularities.

He has therefore given the NPP thumps up for petitioning the Supreme Court. Dr Nduom who had been involved in Ghana elections at almost all the levels doubted the credibility of the election which had President John Mahama declared winner by the Electoral Commission (EC).

“I have been involved in elections since 1992 and this is the worst in terms of credibility,” Dr Nduom told The African Report last month in an exclusive interview.

Dr Nduom in the interview stated: “In Ghana many people don’t like the truth, they want what is convenient, but what is convenient is not always right for the people.

“What the NPP are doing … is the right thing to do”. He therefore called on the EC to introduce reforms to improve the electoral system.

“What we have now is a bit of façade,” he said.

“In my own constituency in Elmina we had people handing out money on that very day… Giving polling agents 50 or 100 Ghana cedis, now when multiply that by 26,000 polling stations across the country you get our whole campaign budget. “You can’t compete with that”, he lamented.

Lawyers representing the NPP filed a petition at the Supreme Court last month giving meaning to the party’s declaration it would seek the nullification of the result which saw incumbent President John Dramani Mahama and his governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) retain power.

The party contends the President secured the win through fraud. Chairman for the EC, Dr Kwadwo Afari Gyan on December 9, 2012, declared President Mahama winner in the presidential contest with 50.70% of the votes whilst his closest challenger Nana Akufo-Addo of the NPP, polled 47.74% of total votes cast.

At a press conference to announce the submission of the petition at the Supreme Court, the NPP said it had uncovered over 1.3 million votes which were illegally counted and stolen for the governing NDC.

The Vice Presidential candidate of the party in the election, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia took journalists through what he claimed was massive irregularities in the elections.

Cataloging what he said were examples of the irregularities, Dr Bawumia said there were over-voting- when the votes in the ballot box exceeded the ballots issued to voters- voting without verification, duplicated serial numbers and several other irregularities.

Over voting alone accounted for 620,443 votes, voting without verification, 456,933, words and figures that did not match accounted for 3, 8411 votes, he noted.

He said a total of all these irregularities amounted to 1,340, 018 illegal ballots.

Dr Bawumia who is also the second petitioner at the Supreme Court said when these figures were adjusted and reconciled, the NPP flag bearer, Nana Akufo-Addo, would be declared winner of the 2012 Presidential poll.

He showed examples of these irregularities which he said took place especially at the polling stations and brought with him the pink sheets issued at the polling stations as his evidence.