On False Claims Of Voters Abroad

By Margaret Jackson

May 30, 2013

The NPP which is in court following its inability to accept electoral defeats in good faith, saw one of their claims flushed inside the dustbin when Dr Kwadwo Afari Gyan, the Electoral Commissioner emphatically told the court during his evidence in chief that no voting took place anywhere abroad.

Dr Afari Gyan who started his evidence in chief whilst being led by his counsel, Mr James Quarshie-Idun, insisted that it was only in Ghana and nowhere else that voting took place during the 2012 Elections.

The NPP has petitioned the Supreme Court (SC) following their bitter loss of the 2012 Presidential Election, claiming that some irregularities accounted for their loss, therefore, they are urging the SC to throw away over 4 million votes in order to make Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo the president.

Dr Afari Gyan in explaining what was done for Ghanaians who were abroad, stated that all those who registered abroad were assigned polling stations in Ghana. He therefore stressed that there was no single person who voted outside the country on Election Day.

The Electoral Commissioner told the court that those who registered outside the country were entitled to vote either by coming down to Ghana or by proxy. And those who came to Ghana to vote went to their assigned polling stations to vote.

The assertion made by Dr Afari Gyan is totally at variance with the claims circulated by the NPP following their 2012 electoral defeat that the EC allowed over 247,000 people to vote abroad.

This is another dagger by one of the respondents which further puts a big dent on the NPP’s case. The way the General Secretary of the NDC, Mr Johnson Asiedu Nketia gave his evidence in chief and is being followed by the EC, clearly gives the impression to any observer of the case that either the NPP is playing mischief by pretending of not knowing the electoral laws or they simply don’t know the electoral laws even though they want to govern the country.

The false claim by the NPP that over 247,000 Ghanaians voted outside the country has generated a lot of heat but to date the NPP have no facts to back their claim. This bogus claim sought to give the impression that there were indeed 247,000 ghosts who voted outside the country on Election Day which helped President Mahama to coast to victory.

The statement made by Dr Afari Gyan on this issue therefore puts to rest this bogus claim by the NPP.

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