We wanted Afari Gyan to ‘steal’ 2008 elections in our favour - NPP

An acting deputy Director of Communications for the ruling New patriotic Party (NPP), Vincent Ekow Asafoa, has disclosed that there were frantic efforts to get the then Chairperson of the Electoral Commission (EC), Dr Kojo Afari Gyan, to call the 2008 polls in favour of their then candidate, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.

He made the revelations to Prince Minkah on the Morning Xpress on Radio XYZ Tuesday morning, when commenting on the corruption allegations leveled against the current EC Boss, Charlotte Osei.

He said the former General Secretary of the party, Kwabena Agyapong could testify to how they tirelessly pushed with their power of incumbency to make Dr. Afari Gyan announce Nana Akufo-Addo as the winner of the polls, even though the results were not favouring him.

“In 2008 Afari Gyan had the glorious opportunity to call the elections for Nana Akufo-Addo even though Nana Addo was trailing. He had every opportunity. For those of the people who were at the Strong room at the time, the Kwabena Agyapong’s and other people will tell you that there were machinations to make sure that Afari Gyan [would] call the elections for Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo,” he revealed and said the commissioner rather stood his grounds and declined to do so unlike what his predecessor, Charlotte Osei did during the 2016 polls.

His comments were to say Mrs. Osei, who is standing trial at a committee set up by Chief Justice Sophia Akuffo, on claims or allegations, could not emulate her predecessor, Dr. Kojo Afari Gyan who had independently steered polls that saw the victory of four (4) heads of state in the Fourth Republic.

According to Vincente, the corruption allegations leveled against Mrs. Osei should be thoroughly investigated because her “insubordination” caused the nation huge sums of monies as a result of some cancellations of electoral processes that erupted ahead of the 2016 electioneering amidst controversies of misappropriation of funds.

“For me, the Electoral Commissioner since the time she was appointed has shown some sort of insubordination . . .So it tells you that in the begining the Electoral commissioner has been doing things that have not favoured the people of Ghana. . . In the build up to the 2016 elections, anything that the Electoral Commissioner did, the NDC was supporting it. . . There have been things or the acts and the inactions of the Electoral Commission over the past has shown that indeed she (Charlotte Osei) had an agenda,” stated the Special Aide to the Vice President’s wife.

Allegations

Some yet-to-be known staff of the Electoral commission (EC), in July, petitioned the President, Nana Akufo-Addo, over an alleged misappropriation of funds by Charlotte Osei after she had asked Joseph Asamoah, EC’s Director of Finance to proceed on leave over an alleged misappropriation of funds.

A committee by the Chief Justice, Sophia Akuffo, was eventually set up to probe the EC Chair and her two deputies, Amadu Sulley and Georgina Opoku Amankwa over the alleged misappropriation of funds.

The three appeared before the committee which was heard in camera, on Monday, December 11, 2017.

Charlotte Osei is to answer to six out of 27 allegations leveled against her by her two deputies.