Tension greets arrival of presidential ballot papers in Krowor

Tempers went high at Krowor Constituency of the Greater Accra Region when the Electoral Commission (EC) officials and the police prevented political parties from examining the presidential ballot papers.

The ballot papers were sent to the Nungua Police Station to be kept there for the December elections.

When the bags containing the ballot papers arrived at the station, the political parties requested to have a look at the number of ballot papers and the credibility of the papers, but the police officers and the EC District Director, Stella Agor, resisted.

This generated a heated argument between the political parties present – the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) -, and the police and EC on one hand.

Nicholas Nii Borlarbi, NPP Communications Director for Krowor Constituency told Onua FM’s Kokromoti that his party insisted on examining the papers after report got to them that the papers sent to Savlugu in the Northern region had allegedly been thumb printed when they arrived.

The parties’ insistence finally paid off as the EC and police gave in and opened the bags. “Each booklet contained 100 pieces of ballot papers”, Nii Borlabi confirmed that “there is nothing wrong with what we have seen”.

District EC Director, Stella Agor confirmed that they initially did not want to open the bags but they later opened it for the political parties to perhaps satisfy their curiosity.

NDC representatives at the Nungua Police station refused to comment on the issue even though his party also supported the idea that the bags should be opened for them to verify.