Press Briefing by the Director of Elections of the NDC Elvis Afriyie Ankrah

THURSDAY 3^RDDECEMBER, 2020 AT NDC HEADQUARTERS, ACCRA

We have taken note of the press conference by the Electoral Commission suggesting they are ready for the 2020 elections even though the demeanor of Jean Mensa shows otherwise.  We in the NDC can only wish the EC well. We have done our best to advise and draw their attention to many issues that we believe must be addressed in the interest of free, fair and credible elections. Unfortunately, they appear to “know-it-all” and therefore refuse to heed to our calls.

We invited you here to share some of these rather serious concerns with you.

DISENFRANCHISEMENT OF SECURITY PERSONNEL TUESDAY’S SPECIAL VOTING

Two days ago, we received widespread reports of missing names of several security personnel in the special voters register. We raised concerns about the deliberate omission of names from the special voters register. Other stakeholders raised similar concerns. We called on the EC to rectify this problem but they blatantly refused to do so.

Special Voting is reserved for persons such as security personnel, journalists and Electoral Commission officials who due to elections duties will not be able to vote on voting day. Our agents observed that the names of many such persons were omitted from the register. Instead the list was full of the names of NPP members who had no role to play in the elections.

Our investigations show that this was a deliberate attempt to frustrate security personnel who were suspected to be NDC sympathizers. This is how our beloved country has degenerated under the FAILED and CORRUPT AKUFO-ADDO GOVERNMENT.

This is part of the grand scheme to disenfranchise Ghanaians in the upcoming elections. The overall effect of this development is that some security personnel have to choose between going to vote on 7^th December or going to where they have been assigned on election duties. It is unfortunate that our men in uniform are being put through such frustration.

We extend our sympathy to affected persons and wish to urge them to ensure that they exercise their franchise come 7^th December. We are calling on the IGP as chairman of the election security task force to ensure that affected persons are deployed to areas where they can easily vote to ensure that they are not disenfranchised.

We are cautioning the EC to ensure that every prospective voter has their name in the voters register on 7^thDecember. Any widespread disenfranchisement will not be acceptable to the NDC and Ghanaians.

FAKE RESULTS FROM SPECIAL VOTING

We have information that apologists of the NPP government are going round saying that the FAILED AKUFO-ADDO won the special votes. This is preposterous to say the least. A commander-in-Chief who has worsened the living conditions of our men in uniform. Akufo-Addo also continues to promote indiscipline in our security agencies leading to low morale. The only thing he deserves is to be voted out.

We wish to assure Ghanaians that ballots from yesterday’s special voting will be counted on 7^thDecember after voting and we in the NDC are confident that our men in uniform want H.E. John Mahama back as their commander in chief.

We wish to sound a caution that no one should tamper with the ballot boxes at the respective polling stations.

We call on Ghanaians to remain vigilant at police stations where ballot boxes of the special voting are being kept so that no one will temper with them.

Our collation agents will inspect and cross-check to ensure that such ballot boxes have not tampered with before they are counted on 7^th December. We shall reject and order forensic audit of all such ballots.

DESTRUCTION OF ‘HIDDEN’ BALLOT PAPERS PARCELED FOR ASHANTI REGION

One of the challenges with face with the Jean Mensa led EC is their dishonesty. Contrary to their oath of office, they have been dishonest to Ghanaians on several occasions. It is for this reason that we don’t find them credible.

A classic case in point is the over one million hidden presidential ballot papers meant for Ashanti Region that our agents discovered at INNOLINK Printing Press one of the 7 printing houses selected by the Electoral Commission to print ballot papers for Ashanti, Upper West and Western North Regions.

The standard practice is that, after printing of ballot papers the plates and the waste papers are destroyed under a certificate of disposal signed by party agents and other stakeholders. This was done for Innolink on 20^th November 2020.

Subsequently, the ballot papers for Ashanti Region were dispatched to the region on 22^nd November, 2020.

However, on 25^th November the agents were invited to witness the re-printing of ballot papers to replace defective ballot papers for Afigya Kwabre South Constituency only to discover the over 1 million presidential ballots parceled and concealed in one of the rooms.

Our agents raised an alarm and immediately insisted that the ballot papers should be shredded. Stakeholders agreed and the ballots were cut into pieces.

On 27^th November we invited the media to witness the destruction of the ballot papers.

It comes therefore to us as a surprise that the EC has denied this incident and misleading the general public that these were waste ballots.

There are therefore more questions than answers

If the ballots were waste ballots, why were they not destroyed at the time that the other waste ballots and plates were destroyed?

If these were waste ballots, why were they parceled and concealed in a different room and the agents were never informed?

The duplicity of the EC is legendary!

John 8:44

Ye are of you father the devil and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks of his own: for he is a liar and the father of all liars.

MISSING NAMES IN THE VOTERS REGISTER

The confusion surrounding the final register for the 2020 election is a major cause for concern. The EC claims that the names of some prospective voters cannot be found in their database so the list has been provided at affected polling stations.

Some persons who challenged their inclusion on the multiple voters registration list were also successful and therefore have to be included in the list of missing names. Affected persons are over 800.

The implication is that all these persons cannot be verified through the biometric system and therefore have to be verified manually in addition to those cannot be verified through the biometric system or facial identification.

You will recall, that one of the key arguments the EC raised in favour of the compilation of a new voters register. We can all attest to the fact that these developments defeat the objectives of the EC because manual verification has the potential of promoting multiple voting. This is a major challenge for which we introduced a biometric register.

Our intelligence suggests that this system deficiency can be deliberately exploited to facilitate multiple voting. The scheme we have uncovered is that some party supporters will be given some unique identification such as wrist bands. Such persons on arrival at polling stations will be issued multiple ballot papers to engage in multiple voting. Some of these persons will also move from one polling station to another to engage in multiple voting. We are calling on the general public to be vigilant at polling stations and look out for such characters and report them to the police. We hereby serve notice to persons who will be engaged in multiple voting that it is a criminal offence which is punishable by law and we shall make sure they are prosecuted come January 7, 2021.

These developments also have the potential to create confusion during ballot accounting.

We hereby inform the people of Ghana that if there is any confusion in this election, Jean Mensa, Bossman Asare, Samuel Tetteh, Siriboe Quarcoo, Asante Kissi  should be held responsible. Conspiracy to manipulate election is tantamount to a high crime of subverting the constitution and the will of the people. These persons must be reminded that there is no limitation period for the prosecution of criminal offences and that they can be prosecuted at anytime while they are alive. If these people have family members, they should advise them accordingly.

CAUTION AGAINST HASTY DECLARATION OF RESULTS

We have had cause to caution the EC against the hasty declaration of election results. It is proper that as returning officer for the Presidential Elections, Jean Mensa should take her time to certify results from all 275 constituencies before declaration of results.

Can the EC confirm or deny that it has outsourced the collation of results to one KINGSFORD BOATENG who works with Vodafone. If this is true, the EC should advise itself and rescind that decision IMMEDIATELY as this is unconstitutional.

Information available to us suggests that the EC is conniving with some elements to hastily declare results and then lockdown the country thereafter.

We wish to serve notice that we shall not accept the declaration of inaccurate results. With many Ghanaians supporting us, we shall employ all legitimate means to ensure that the EC declares only accurate results. The NDC will not consider going to court as option.

We are however happy that in addition to our own collation system, many independent organizations such as the Coalition of Domestic Election Observers (CODEO) and various media houses will also be collating results which will serve as a check on the EC.

IRREGULAR VOTE TRANSFERS

We have discovered that some votes have been transferred to various polling stations without the knowledge of affected persons. Vote transfers are based on applications. It is only upon such requests that the EC transfers votes. The transfer of votes to polling stations without the knowledge of affected persons therefore gives us cause for concern over what may have occasioned that. This development has the potential of disenfranchising people and causing chaos on Election Day.

VOTING AT POLICE TRAINING SCHOOLS

It has come to our attention that the EC is creating polling stations in police training schools without prior notice to political parties. This has come as surprise to us since polling stations have already been gazetted. We are calling on the EC to abandon such plans as police recruits can visit their polling stations and vote without any difficulty. In any case, there was opportunity for vote transfer for students which the EC should have utilized for this purpose.

PRINTING OF EXCESS BALLOT PAPERS

Stakeholders agreed that instead of printing of excess ballot papers, larger denominations can be used to replace shortages and vice versa. Unfortunately, the EC has authorized the printing of excess ballot papers for some constituencies. For instance in Greater Accra a total of 72,000 excess presidential ballot papers have been printed for 30 out of 34 constituencies. Some 9,250 excess parliamentary ballots have also been printed. The EC is printing additional 140,505 ballots in 30 constituencies in Greater Accra alone. This dangerous as it may lead to ballot stuffing. We are calling on the EC to destroy all such excess ballot papers as agreed at the last IPAC meeting.

USE OF ILLEGAL RESULTS COLLATION SHEETS (STATEMENT OF POLL/PINK SHEET)

We cautioned the EC over attempts to use an illegal results collation sheet contrary to Regulation 37 of C.I 127. The new statement of poll is designed to capture only persons verified manually and will not capture the number of persons verified with the biometric device. This is illegal. We therefore asked the EC to rectify this situation before 7^thDecember.

AUDIO BY AN OFFICIAL ON AN EVIL AGENDA TO RENDER THE BALLOT PAPERS OF PERSONS WHO VOTE FOR JOHN MAHAMA INVALID

“The boys should stamp here, when that is done the stamp will go to Mahama’s position and that will show at number two and when someone  thump prints for Mahama, the stamp and the thump print will compete so the polling agents will battle for rejection of the ballot paper, the correct place to place the stamp is at the right corner of the ballot paper, when it is placed at the right corner, it won’t affect anyone… So try and tell all the agents that when they are stamping they should stamp at the right corner of the ballot paper- that is the right place to stamp. Their boys within the EC have been told to stamp here, which will go to show at second,{no.2) and the agents will battle that this must be rejected after voting.. that is the connection they have done.

So I’ve told my people, Dr.Kofi …(last name not clear) so I’ve sent to them- they are also strong NDC members so they’ve taken the message- ok, then let’s move on to the next one- Secondly, they told us that when the results are declared ( there was arguments there) a number will be given us, so we should send the results through that number to Accra before sending it to our districts .. this has not happened before, that we should send the results to Jean’s office first before sending the pink sheet later and we  were like, what is this?

So they said Jean wants to get the results latest by 6pm and what if by 6:00 o’clock people are still in the queue voting … “ it is even by 5pm that voting ends”

SECURITY IN THE VOLTA REGION

We remain worried about security in the Volta Region in the upcoming elections. We are receiving reports of arrests and intimation of innocent citizens under the guise of the government sponsored Western Togoland Group. Today, there are several intimidating military barriers in the region. We are aware of government plans to use the same group to cause disturbances in the region between tomorrow and voting day as a justification for voter suppression and possible disruption of the election in the region. We are cautioning government to abandon such plans as the consequences will be disastrous.

We wish to encourage the people of the Volta Region to remain fearless throughout the Electioneering period. Security personnel who will be deployed for election duties are supposed to protect the ballot and ensure peace and not to harm you. In addition, we call on the all Christians, Muslims, Traditionalists and believers in other religions in the Volta Region to pray against any disturbances during the elections.

Remember our history of bravery and fearlessness in Nortsie. How our ancestors through wit and wisdom escaped the autocratic leadership of King Agorkoli of Nortsie in Benin. It is with this great wisdom that the people of the Volta Region must work to escape the dictatorship, wickedness and curruption of Akufo-Addo who is the present day Agorkoli.

We call on the good people of Ghana to FEARLESSLY come out in their numbers and vote out the “MOTHER SERPENT OF CORRUPTION  -NANA AKUFO-ADDO”.

LOW MORALE IN THE GHANA ARMED FORCES

We are aware of the low morale in the Ghana Armed Forces as a result of complicity by some senior officers over acts of injustice and ill treatment. We wish to assure all ranks in the army that President Mahama will work hard to restore the discipline, order and dignity in the army come January 7, 2021. We wish to encourage officers who will be deployed on election duties to stay true to the constitution by cracking down hoodlums who will be deployed during elections in uniform. Such characters are giving the otherwise well respected security agencies a bad name. It is the duty of officers to rise up to the occasion by restoring the dignity of their respected profession. History will be on the side of officers who do this.

DISENFRANCHISING PERSONS WITHOUT NOSE MASKS AT POLLING STATIONS IS UNCONSTITUTIONAL

We found it awful that the EC turned away persons without nose masks at polling stations in yesterday’s special voting. The EC further defended their action in media interviews saying everyone is enjoined to wear nose masks. This singular is not only unconstitutional but ridiculous. What is more disturbing is that Parliament approved budget to the EC to procure nose masks for persons who may show up without them so they will not be disenfranchised. It is therefore strange that the EC will turn around to prevent such persons from voting.

We wish to caution the EC against this practice on 7^th December. The EC must make provision for nose masks at polling stations for persons who may not have.

We are also calling on the electorate who may not have nose masks to improvise by using any piece of cloth or handkerchiefs to cover their nose. Women can also use their scarfs or ‘mayafi’ to cover their nose. Nothing should discourage us from voting this failed and corrupt Akufo-Addo government out.

USE OF MOBILE PHONES AT POLLING STATION

We have taken note of the EC’s public announcement and educational campaigns discouraging the use of mobile phones at polling stations. This directive is illegal as it infringes on the rights of voters. We note that the EC rationalized this illegal directive by explaining that they don’t want voters to take pictures of persons they vote for because that will compromise the secrecy of their votes. However, this development happens only during party primaries and not during general elections. The EC cannot use that as an excuse to deny voters access to their phones at polling stations.

We are calling on voters to be vigilant at polling stations. We encourage voters to take pictures and videos of Election Day activities especially happenings at the polling stations and share them widely on social media.

MESSAGE TO PRESIDING OFFICIALS AND TEMPORAL EC STAFF AT POLLING STATIONS

You are privileged to be selected to assist in the conduct of this year’s elections. Ghanaians are therefore looking up to you to do your work fairly and conscientiously. Remember that electoral offences are punishable by law and anyone found engaging in such malpractice will be sanctioned accordingly.

If you collude to cheat in these elections it amounts to subversion of the sovereign will of Ghanaians and the constitution and this constitutes the highest crime of treason.

We are not asking for any favours. We believe that if you do work well, the NDC will undoubtedly remain victorious. You must work to ensure that only the will of the people prevail.

CONCLUSION

We are reminding the Electoral Commission especially Jean Mensa, Bossman Asare, Samuel Tetteh, Siriboe Quarco, Asante Kissi and anyone concerned with the evil plan to subvert the will of Ghanaians through rigging to abandon any such plans in their own interest.

We thank the good people of Ghana for their support so far. We are particularly grateful to those who continue to share vital information with us on what is going on their communities. We wish to encourage them to continue to do so. If you see anything suspicious, record, take pictures and videos and share with us.

Our vigilance has resulted in our ability to uncover and expose all the evil agenda of the NPP. It is this vigilance that we need from each and every Ghanaian between now till elections are over.

We wish to assure our supporters and the people of Ghana the NDC is well prepared for the elections and to form a new government come January 7, 2021 under the able leadership of H.E. John Dramani Mahama.