Accra, Jan. 6, GNA - The National Democratic Congress (NDC) on Thursday called on the Electoral Commission (EC) to reconsider its decision not to collate the results of four constituencies in last month's Presidential Elections before declaring Mr John Agyekum Kufour winner.
The NDC commended the EC and its officers for ensuring that justice was done in the four constituencies of Pru, Tolon, Yapei-Kusagwu and Zabzugu, where there were recounting of ballot papers that saw the party winning those seats as against earlier declaration of the results in favour of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP)
The NDC said the claim that the results for the four constituencies would not affect the final outcome of the elections since President Kufour would still be winner was unacceptable
A statement Mr Rojo Mettle-Nunoo, the Director of Communications Of NDC 2004 Campaign Team signed in Accra said the NDC "seriously disagrees with the decision of the Electoral Commission not to collate the results of the Presidential election in those four constituencies, and thus called on the Commission to do so without delay.
"Indeed our information is that the final results announced on December 30, 2004 excluded figures from the four constituencies under reference." The NDC said accurate historical records on the elections were essential "to enable the electorate to know the exact percentage by which President Kufuor has been adjudged winner".
It said that was necessary because of the "unprecedented unilateral declaration by the NPP, of the NPP's candidate, Mr John Agyekum Kufuor as winner on National Radio and TV with a 53 per cent margin at a time when the Electoral Commission had not officially declared the results of the Presidential Elections".
The NDC said if it had also declared its Presidential candidate the winner at that time one could have imagined the chaos and confusion the nation would have been thrown into when tensions were so high and nobody was sure about the outcome of the elections.
The Party said it had noted with concern that there had been no word of condemnation of "this unconstitutional action of the ruling NPP by the local media, nor by the Coalition of Domestic Election Observers (CODEO).
"Neither has there been commendation of the NDC for its display of maturity and sensitivity to the national security situation in refraining from any similar act of electoral chicanery."
The NDC said circumstances surrounding the earlier results declared in the Pru Constituency in the Brong Ahafo stood as one of the most blatant electoral fraud in Ghanaian history.
"The NPP obviously organised a gang to disrupt the collation exercise on December 7 at the official collation centre at the Yeji Secondary School, the burning of electoral materials including 78 ballot boxes and the subsequent declaration of the NPP candidate as the winner by a Deputy Returning Officer at the Yeji Police Station after the substantive Returning Officer had been forced to go into hiding are all established facts."
It said in the Tolon Constituency, the NDC Candidate was chased out of the town on Election Day, and his agents prevented from monitoring the elections in 22 polling stations in the town.
"In the Yapei-Kusagwu Constituency, an organised NPP gang disrupted the collation of the results when the NDC had taken a commanding lead, necessitating the re-collation by the Electoral Commission.
"At Zabzugu in the Zabzugu-Tatale Constituency, the Returning Officer was summoned by the District Chief Executive just when he was about to declare the results in favour of the NDC, and the subsequent disruptive behaviour of an NPP organised gang compelled the postponement of the declaration of the results."
The NDC said the incidents could not have been mere coincidence and that it would soon make public report that it had commissioned on those activities.
"Apart from forming a clear pattern, they are pointers to the fact that something was amiss in the conduct of the elections and its outcome." It said the Party had information of similar occurrences in other parts of the country.
The NDC accused the NPP of violence, intimidation and mayhem, as well as collusion between some electoral officers and the ruling NPP. The NDC said long before Election 2004 it had made public information about some political elements, who were preparing to use violence and intimidation to steal the verdict of the electorate.
It said: "At that time the propagandists of the ruling NPP said the NDC was crying wolf. Now, given the well-documented events in the four constituencies the NDC has been vindicated."
The Party commended its supporters and sympathisers as well as its Presidential candidate, Professor John Evans Atta Mills and said it "will continue to fight for the truth, fairness, equity and justice in the electoral system and in all aspects of our national life."
