By Ms. Elizabeth Ohene.
Dr. Sammy Ohene, with blood dripping from his eye, minutes after he escaped being lynched by supporters of the National Democratic Congress during the December 28 presidential run off poll.
My name is Elizabeth Ohene, and yes I am a member of the NPP and this is my story, of the Presidential Run-Off elections in Ghana on December 28.After the experience that we had in the Volta Region during the December 7 elections, the NPP decided to deploy some Polling Agents recruited from outside the local areas who would not be intimidated or compromised because of local pressure.Those recruited were mostly young students from the nation's universities and Polytechnics. The day before the voting, I met with some of them on their arrival in the Volta Region and particularly with the 58 that were sent to help in my constituency of Ho West.At about 4pm on that Saturday, I went to the Ho market and we parked on the main road which is a busy thoroughfare and realised we had parked right behind a white Pick-Up, without a registration number, bedecked with NDC posters and paraphernalia and flying an impressively large NDC flag. The vehicle had loudspeakers mounted on it and as we stopped behind, we realised an announcement was being made. We listened. There were two men in the vehicle and the announcement in Ewe went as follows: The NPP is sending some strangers among us to be polling agents. At the polling stations, they will try to stir up trouble and in the ensuing confusion, will try to snatch the ballot boxes and replace them with ones they have already stuffed. When this happens, simply get hold of these strangers and slaughter them. And when you slaughter them, you will have our firm support.After this announcement, the vehicle calmly drove off. I sat in my vehicle in a state of absolute and total shock. Shock, not just at the language that was used, but at the sheer brazenness of it all and the fact that not a single person in that busy thoroughfare appeared shocked or tried to remonstrate with the two men.I phoned the Volta Region Police Commander Dery and narrated what we had just witnessed to him. He told me he had had a similar report earlier in the day about such a vehicle making a similar announcement in a town about twenty kilometres from Ho. He told me he was having a meeting with the regional hierarchy of the NPP and NDC in his office and invited me to join them to see how best to address the issue.I went to the Regional commander’s office and joined the meeting. I narrated the incident outside the market to the meeting. The response of the NDC was that it was obvious from what I had narrated that if nobody touched a ballot box, then nothing would happen. They were not shocked, at least did not look or express any shock at the public incitement to violence being orchestrated by their Propaganda vehicle. They were not prepared to condemn the language being used.We were later joined at the meeting by the Volta Region NDC chairman, Mr. Modesto Ahiable. I narrated my story, and by this time I was almost hysterical with passion.I went on my knees and begged him that I did not believe the elections were worth a single life and no blood should be spilled. He also said my account of the announcement showed nothing untoward would happen unless the ballot box was interfered with. I managed eventually to get him to concede that the use of such language was unacceptable.Then he told me they had evidence that the NPP had sent 30 busloads of MACHOMEN into the region, complete with pre-stuffed ballot boxes. I told him he should discard all such thoughts and told him the Agents we had brought were young students who could hardly be described as MACHOMEN.I left the meeting with my brother Dr. Sammy Ohene who had been with me in the market and witnessed the incident. We later left Ho and went to Abutia, a town about 10 kilometers from Ho, which is our hometown.The next day, VOTING DAY, my brother Sammy was the first to vote at our Polling station because he had been appointed a Polling agent to serve at Dededo, a religious settlement in the Ho West constituency.[At this polling station, the greatest number of votes the NPP had ever got was 13, and on occasion, had got 1 vote.] My other brother, Emmanuel took Sammy to the Polling station where he showed his Agent's tag, duly signed by Dr. Afari Gyan, the Returning Officer for the elections and a letter of Accreditation, duly signed by the Candidate of the NPP, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo. Sammy realised immediately that the young man from the UCC, Solomon Kwakye, who was supposed to be the second agent was sitting quite far from the enclosure.The Presiding Officer at the station, a Mr. Ankude, told Sammy upon request that he had banished Solomon Kwakye from the enclosure because he had been argumentative. Sammy pleaded with the Presiding Officer to allow the agent back into the enclosure.
