Mills concerned about bloated register in Ashanti Region

... 618,417 more voters in 2 years
Cape Coast, Mar. 2, GNA- Professor John Atta Mills, the flag bearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), on Saturday, expressed his concern about the bloating of the voter's register in 13 constituencies in the Ashanti region.

He said the figures in the 13 constituencies were so outrageous that there was the need for proper investigations to set the records straight, adding that, any political party that believes in democracy should find out why the register was bloated in the 13 constituencies. Professor Mills, who expressed the concern at a well attended durbar at Cape Coast where he begins his nationwide tour, said the issue should not be the worry of the NDC alone but all the political parties in the country.

He was given a rousing welcome by the supporters of the party, who danced to brass band music along the streets of Cape Coast to show their joy that their flagbearer was still alive and not dead as alleged. Professor Mills said the bloating of the registration in the 13 constituencies should be a national concern and that the matter should be dealt with appropriately or else he would find it difficult to accept the electoral process.
He alleged that the 2004 elections were rigged and stressed that this year the NDC would not allow itself to be cheated and asked the supporters to be vigilant.

The NDC flagbearer thanked God for his life and good health, adding that, "the plans of people were not that of God" and asked the supporters to pray and vote for him in the elections.

Mr Valis Akyianu, Regional Chairman of the party, presented Prof Mills with a Kente cloth and native sandals as a symbol to officially welcome him to the region and appealed to the supporters to close their ranks and vote for the flag bearer.

He urged them to debunk the allegation that Prof. Mills was sick and dying and rather do everything possible to win the 2008 elections. Mrs Ama Benyiwa-Doe, Women's Organizer of the party, described Prof. Mills as an honest and sincere person and urged Ghanaians not to be deceived by money, but vote for him as the next president.

Mr Barton Oduro, parliamentary candidate for the Cape Coast constituency, thanked the people of Cape Coast for giving Prof Mills a warm reception and urged them to vote for him and the professor. Earlier, Professor Mills paid a courtesy call on the Omanhene of the Oguaa Traditional Area Osabarima Kwesi Atta II and asked for his support and prayer, after which he presented two cartons of schnapps and an undisclosed amount of money to the Omanhene.

Osabarima Kwesi Atta II advised Prof. Mills not to engage in politics of insults and urged him to also educate his supporters to comport themselves and not to engage themselves in violent campaigns.

NPP'S RIGGING MACHINERY IN ASHANTI REGION EXPOSED

... The EC has the documentary proof!
... Urgent forensic audit of Ashanti Region Voter Registration figures required! Palaver -- The NPP has operationalised its plans to rig the 2008 Parliamentary and Presidential elections, period.

Documents from the Electoral Commission in the possession of "The Ghana Palaver" and titled "Analysis of Number of Registered Voters by Constituency for 2004 and 2006" establishes clearly that someone somewhere is trying to rig the up-coming elections in favour of the NPP.

Following the limited registration conducted in 2006 prior to the District Level Elections, the number of registered voters country-wide in 2006 shows that the average percentage increase comparing 2004 to 2006 would have been about 5.5% but for the statistically impossible very high registered voters in 13 constituency in the Ashanti Region.

The Electoral Commission analysis establishes the following:

The registered voters in these 13 Ashanti Region constituencies have risen by 618,417 voters. Realizing that in 2004 the NPP had about 78% of the votes in the Ashanti Region, this over-bloating of the Ashanti Region registered voters by 618,417 voters assures the NPP of about 500,000 votes which could only have happened by a manipulation of the voters registered in Ashanti Region, the NPP's strong hold.

For example where did 81,983 people come from between 2004 and 2006 in Ejisu Juaben?

What new industries have been established there to attract these numbers of people aged 18 years and above?

Is it statistically possible for a small constituency like Ejisu-Juaben to have more than doubled its voter population within two years when the register was opened for only persons who had attained 18 years within those two years and for persons who could not register in 2004?

For purposes of comparison, we reproduce below for each region the 13 constituencies with the highest changes in registration figures for the 2006 registration, and it becomes clear that the national average of the changes in the number of registered voters is about 5.5%. Clearly, a forensic audit should be conducted of the Ashanti registration figures before the new registration opens in May 2008. The seeds of the rigging have been sown in the 2006 figures and if the opposition parties allow those figures to stand, they might as well forget about the 2008 elections. In our next issue, we shall publish the entire figures for the whole country for the scale of the fraud to be exposed to the whole country.