Press Statement by NDC

RESS STATEMENT BY THE NATIONAL DEMOCRATIC CONGRESS ON THE ONGOING VOTERS' REGISTRATION EXERCISE

Ladies and Gentlemen of the media, we have invited you here today to share with you and all well-meaning Ghanaians our concerns with the current voters registration exercise. We are happy to see all of you here today in response to our cordial invitation. We thank you and believe that this is all in furtherance of the deepening democratic engagement in the country. However, we are extremely pained to alert all of you of emergingpatterns of political deceit, mischief, naked aggression, violence, and unbridled quest for power.

In fact, the ugly faces of overt and covert harassment, intimidation, intolerance, and extreme violence, have become gravely evident in our democratic politics of today and are systematically assaulting our fledgling democracy. It is worth placing on record that the media have been alert and alive and reporting these incidents as witnesses. As conduits to the public in the free and uncensored dissemination of information, the media are urged to ensure that their vigilance shall be relentless and devoid of fear, favour, or prejudice. Your continuing objective reportage of events is solicited and advocated.

We have felt compelled to express our concerns at this point, because of the scale of irregularities, violence and other acts of criminality that have characterized the exercise. We believe that our Electoral Commission has conducted itself in such a manner, as to tarnish its hard-earned image as a competent and efficient manager of local elections. We wish to bring our concerns to the attention of the good people of this country and ask you to join us in raising our voices in order that the electoral commission, the security forces, and President Kufuor will be compelled to take notice of the mismanagement of the electoral process. We trust that if we all stand up and insist that Government and its agencies do the right things to ensure we have a free, fair, transparent, and credible election this December, then God willing, we will have a President who is the real choice of the people of this country. We would also have selected 230 Members of Parliament who are truly representative of their constituents and we would have consolidated our reputation as one of the true democracies on the African continent.

All this however, is dependent on the actions of the electoral commission in conducting this registration exercise, and it's handling of the December 7th election. We hope that after this statement has been received, and bearing in mind the statements made by other political parties they will do what is required to deal with the mess they have created.

1. Firstly, let us remind ourselves that when last years budget statement was read, the electoral commission informed parliament that its budgetary requirements had been reduced by 30%. Members of Parliament on both sides of the aisle, called for the situation to be rectified and advised that a supplementary budget be brought to Parliament for the Electoral Commission in order that it would have adequate funding to do its job. The call fell on deaf ears; the Minister of Finance did not present any supplementary budget proposals for the electoral commission. They as an institution did not take advantage of the support they had from parliament, and it was clear from the beginning of this year that the elections would be under-funded.

2. After the NDC received two different sets of information concerning polling data from the Electoral Commission and a committee was set up to look into the matter, it was also quite clear that the Electoral Commission was seriously challenged as to the security of its data, and in spite of these revelations from the work of the committee, we are not informed that any thing has been done to rectify the situation. The implications of having such insecure data is that information may be added or deleted at the pleasure of an IT expert who has managed to access this very porous security system. We thought it wise that a sensitive organization like the electoral commission set examples by terminating the appointments of the two Senior Officers directly responsible for the management of the system. Namely the Director of Elections and the Head of the IT Department. The Commission, for reasons best known to them saw fit to accept this mediocre standard of performance, and we are yet to be informed as to what steps they have taken to ensure that the system is safe, secure, and sound.

3. When our representatives at the IPAC meeting discussed the preparations made for the current registration exercise we were informed that it would be a limited registration exercise and that 5000 registration centres would be opened. Even though the registration exercise was originally planned to take place at the beginning of May it was postponed because the Electoral Commission claimed that it did not yet have the necessary logistics to conduct the exercise. Now three months later they were still unable to acquire the necessary logistics for the exercise and even though they had said that they would open 5000 registration centres we were informed that only 2500 camera's and workstations would be made available for the exercise. This is responsible for the confusion that is characterizing the process today.

4. We also wish to remind Ghanaians that when the NDC was in office, we were able to ensure the provision of adequate resources so that all Ghanaians who qualified to register could do so and exercise their right to vote in national elections. The Electoral Commission under the NDC administration was able to conduct nationwide registration in 1996, and in the year 2000. For those who would recall the photo ID cards were eventually in colour and as a result, the face of each prospective voter was very clearly seen. We have moved back to black and white photographs for a limited registration. Instead of moving forwards under the administration of the NPP, we seem to have moved backwards.

5. Driving through the streets of Accra or any of the nation's population centres and looking at the long lines of people waiting to register, one can only wonder if the electoral commission officials put themselves in the shoes of the millions of Ghanaians who are compelled to stand in the sun for hours on end just to register and exercise their democratic right of choosing their next leader.

6. We have noted that the Director of Public Affairs of the Electoral Commission made a statement on Monday the 4th of August to the effect that the Electoral Commission had released 1.2 million registration forms for the exercise. From the tracking sheets that have been made available to the party only 905,000 forms have been released into the system. We are therefore requesting that the Electoral Commission as a matter of urgency releases to the Public, preferably by printing in the dailies details of how many forms were released to each registration centre in the country.

We have further noted from reports made available to us from our Regional Executives that there have been widespread shortages of material in areas perceived to be NDC strongholds. This has been observed throughout the country especially the Upper East, Upper West, Volta Region, in the Sefwi areas of the Western Region and parts of Greater Accra Region, which gives us the reason to doubt that all the forms that ought to have been issued to the Registration Centres have been dispatched as required. We need the Electoral Commission to address this situation in order to ensure that Ghanaian citizens are not disenfranchised by their ineptitude. We are also insisting that no extra forms should be sent to the registration centres that do not adhere to the tracking system stipulated, as this will compromise the whole purpose of 'tracking' and is a recipe for attempts to rig and bloat a register in the future.

We have also been informed that Ghanaian citizens of Northern and Ewe extraction attempting to register in Kumasi, parts of Accra, Sekondi & Takoradi have been turned away from the polling centres on allegations that they are aliens. We wish to remind the Electoral Commission and its officers that Ghana is a multi-ethnic society and no particular tribe or ethnic group is more Ghanaian than another.

7. We wish to place on record our condemnation of the actions of the police at the premises of Radio Gold yesterday morning around 9.00 a.m. They rushed into the premises of the station, slapped and manhandled the staff and took away the Financial Controller of the business and kept him in police custody for the day. Upon enquiry by the Manager of the Radio Station – Mr. Baffoe Bonnie – he was informed that they received reports of an armed robbery taking place at the station and so rushed in to stop it. If that was indeed the case then it was the most confused response to armed robbery that can ever be imagined, and we are indeed in trouble if this is how our police officers have been trained under this administration. We call on the Greater Accra Regional Command of the Ghana Police Force to conduct an enquiry into the actions of the police officers who stormed Radio Gold and provide an explanation to the good people of Ghana.

8. The anomalies, irregularities, and acts of violence that have occurred during this registration exercise are too many to capture in this press statement. We have provided a few examples. All of these fall within four (4) distinct trends which are categorized as follows, but before I elaborate I would urge us to ask ourselves where we will be heading if we accept these levels of fraud, violence, incompetence and deception in our electoral process. We would also wish to draw attention that a document detailing how NPP intended to compromise the integrity of the registration exercise in their favour, specifically referred to some of these examples that we are providing in this statement.

A. A clear effort to limit the opportunity given to NDC supporters to register by creating artificial shortages of registration material and late start of registration in areas perceived to be NDC strongholds, and turning away people who are of Northern and Ewe extraction from Registration Centres: For example,

I. At Adum Presbyterian Registration Centre of Subin Constituency in Kumasi for instance, the NDC General Secretary, Asiedu Nketia alias General Mosquito engaged in a heated debate with the NPP Parliamentary Candidate for the Constituency – Mr. Isaac Osei who insisted that he would not allow anyone who was not of Ashanti Extraction to register to vote, we would like to ask whether the supervision of registration has now been left to NPP parliamentary candidates .

II. Another disturbing occurrence at Asafo Zion and Presbyterian registration centres also in Kumasi was the physical prevention of people perceived to be Ewes and Northerners from joining the que to participate in the registration process as they have been perceived as normally voting for the NDC.

B. Bussing of Minors and other people from NPP strongholds to other areas throughout the country, and attempts to bring in people from neighbouring countries:

I. In the Offinso North Constituency of the Ashanti Region, many 'A O' buses full of NPP supporters mostly minors were brought to Nkenkanso registration centre for registration. The Second Ashanti Regional Vice Chairman of the NDC Mr. Alex Attivor and the NDC agents present detected the anomaly and therefore raised an alarm. Concerned citizens at the center joined the NDC team to challenge the eligibility of the minors bussed in. To the dismay of those present NPP thugs led by the NPP parliamentary candidate for Offinso North, who is also the DCE for the area, pounced on Mr. Alex Attivor and the NDC agents, beating them mercilessly without the intervention of the police officials present. This paved the way for the minors to be registered.

II. There was also the issuance of fresh birth certificates to a large army of minors in Nkenkanso to enable them to circumvent the process. This illegality was no doubt orchestrated by the NPP to have unfair advantage in the election.

III. In the Subin Constituency, the NDC parliamentary candidate, Tony Agyemang Nyame was beaten at the Asafo Zion School Registration Centre by the NPP Constituency Youth Organiser and his thugs for daring to protest against the registration of minors since the beginning of the registration exercise.

C. Beating up of NDC Agents, destruction of their records and preventing them from keeping the records necessary to track the process and denying them access to challenge forms, these are all clearly against agreements reached at IPAC and this predominantly has occurred in the Ashanti Region:

I. At CPC registration center in Kofokrom in the Atwima Nwabiagya Constituency, the NPP Ashanti Regional Chairman slapped the NDC agent there when he refused to hand over the NDC Poll book in which he was recording unusual happenings at the center.

II.One of the party's polling agents – Mr. Ambrose Williams was beaten up by NPP thugs at Nkenkanso – at the kramo-krom Ankaase Ebom Registration centre and was subsequently conveyed to the hospital by the General Secretary.

D. Where DCE's are contesting elections as NPP parliamentary candidates they are using their incumbency to mobilize thugs and misuse the police to assault, harass, intimidate and to attack NDC candidates and the party leadership I. A confrontation between activists of the NPP and NDC ensued at registration centers in Sekyeredumasi and the Ejura-Sekyere-Odumase Constituency where the DCE is contesting as a parliamentary candidate, when a number of buses with NPP supporters were brought in from Kumasi to register. As usual, the NDC activists were out numbered and soundly trashed and chased out of the centers.

II.At Akontombra in Sefwi Wiawso of the Western Region, we are informed that the District Chief Executive, Appiah Kubi Baidoo, who is the NPP parliamentary candidate for the area led a team of hired thugs from Kumasi who brutalized NDC supporters with cutlasses and guns. At Atwakan in Akontombra for instance, they chased the MP for the area, Hon. Harold Kobina and the NDC Deputy Youth Organizer, Kwabena Akandoh out of the registration Center. Unfortunately for Kwabena, his pursuers caught up with him and beat him mercilessly and only spared him when he pleaded with them for his life. However they damaged his motorbike on which he tried escaping. As we speak now, some of the victims of these heinous acts are receiving medical attention at the Sefwi Wiawso Government Hospital. What is most disturbing is the fact that the DCE later dumped some of his victims at the police station who were further assaulted by the police.

III. We are also aware that at Asiokow in the Upper West Akyem Constituency, the District Police Commander and the DCE, personally prevented people they claim to be non-Ghanaians from registering.

IV. In Asunafo South, where the DCE is a candidate the sitting NDC MP – Mr. Eric Opoku had his home surrounded by NPP thugs organized by the DCE to prevent him from coming out to monitor the registration exercise, while the police looked on helplessly for two days.

Ladies and Gentlemen of the Media, we are compiling a record of all the anomalies that have been noted in each Constituency during this registration by our vigilant and tireless polling agents and our regional, constituency, and branch executives. We shall publish them for the good people of this country to appreciate just how much damage this poorly managed registration exercise has done to the electoral process.

We believe that the way forward is as follows:

- These problems enumerated are all man-made and are within the powers of the Electoral Commission, the Government, and the NPP as a Party to resolve. At this stage, the NDC is of the view that if these problems are not addressed and extension of the registration period not be useful. There will rather be a compounding of the spate of irregularities and manipulation of the system. Moreover, we perceive that the electoral time table from now to December 7, is already in danger of being compromised.

We are therefore calling on the Electoral Commission and the Government to take the necessary actions to rescue the process from the crises that it is facing now We of the NDC roundly and unreservedly condemn any acts of intimidation, harassment, high-level intolerance and gratuitous violence whether it is within a party as has been exemplified in the NPP or amongst contending political parties. Our pledge, ladies and gentlemen, is to, along with other well-meaning Ghanaians, ensure that our peace is not shattered by sheer greed, and strive for power. The total commitment of the NDC is to assure the sustenance of our cherished democracy. This is our unwavering covenant we are entering into with Ghanaians. We thank you for your attention.

Johnson Asiedu Nketiah (General Secretary)

6th August 2008