GRi Press Review Ghana 06 – 12 - 2000
Polls results out after 72 hrs
Minority parties won't boycott polls
Election surprises galore
Opposition reacts to SC's rule - Polling agents still have powers
Tony Aidoo booed
Al-Hassan wants NDC out
NPP in arms trafficking?
Kufuor urges massive vote
The Daily Graphic and The Independent report on tomorrow’s polls in
which Ghanaians will elect a President and 200 members of Parliament to steer
the affairs of the nation for the next four years.
Seven presidential aspirants representing political parties and 1084
parliamentary candidates are vying for the presidency and the 200 seats in
Parliament.
The parties include the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), New Patriotic
Party (NPP), Convention People's Party (CPP), the People's National Convention
(PNC), the United Ghana Movement (UGM), the National Reform Movement (NRP), and
the Great Consolidated Popular Party (GCPP).
The elections, the third under the Fourth Republic, according to
Graphic, are as historic as they are competitive because for the first time in
the nation's 43-year history, an elected government under a multi-party
political dispensation would have fully served out its constitutionally
mandated two-terms.
The Independent, commenting on the Presidential election, says although
there are seven candidates vying for the keys to the Castle, it is really a
two-horse race between Professor John Evans Atta Mills of the ruling NDC and
John Agyekum Kufuor of the NPP.
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Polls results out after 72 hrs
The Electoral Commissioner, Dr Kwadwo Afari-Gyan on Tuesday gave the
assurance that results of Thursday's general elections would be announced 72 hours
after close of polls, reports the Ghanaian Times.
The commissioner who was speaking to a cross section of the press in
Accra as part of the Ghana Journalists Association's series of programmes for
the elections, said the results would be announced as they are received.
According to the paper, the results of each polling station would be
announced immediately after counting and certification by the presiding officer
and party agents.
They would then be sent to the constituency centres for collation to
the regional centres.
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Minority parties won't boycott polls
Four minority parties on Tuesday said that they would not boycott
Thursday's general elections even though the Supreme Court's ruling on voter
identification fell short of their expectations.
The New Patriotic Party (NPP), People's National Convention (PNC),
Convention People's Party (CPP) and the National Reform Party (NRP) in a
statement read at a press conference by Mr Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey, NPP campaign
manager, said: "we have absolutely no interest in boycotting the
elections."
The Supreme Court on Monday ruled that both thumb-printed and photo
voter identity cards could be used in the elections being supervised by the
Electoral Commission (EC).
Mr Obetsebi-Lamptey said the verdict had robbed Ghanaians of their hard
fought belief in the electoral process, adding that it was sad that after
working so hard to achieve a 95 per cent success in replacing the thumb-printed
cards with photo ID cards, the EC's toil had come to naught.
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Election surprises galore
The Dispatch says this year's presidential and parliamentary elections
are bound to spring surprises, given the divergent opinion polls that have come
out so far.
The NPP, through some leading members, have hinted that their
Presidential Candidate, Mr J.A. Kufuor, will get about 52 per cent to ensure a
first round victory with the party expecting to win between 110 and 125 of
parliamentary seats.
Varied predictions of 56 to 60 per cent by the NDC all point to a first
round victory, with an annexation of about 120 seats in Parliament.
The National Reform Party is hoping to get between 30 and 35 per cent
to squeeze in a second round.
The paper says the parties' submission contrasts sharply what its
findings indicated, placing NDC's J.E. Atta Mills (42 - 45 per cent) and NPP's
J.A. Kufuor (35 - 38 per cent) for a run off.
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Opposition reacts to SC's rule - Polling agents still have powers
The Free Press has it that four parties contesting Thursday's elections
said that despite the disappointing Supreme Court ruling, the trick of the
ruling NDC used to rig the 1992 and 1996 elections with the thumbprint ID cards
would not succeed this time because Ghanaians are wide awake to expose
them.
According to the parties, polling agents are entitled to question
especially those without clear identification, such as thumbprint ID cards.
They cited Constitutional Instrument number 15, section 19, which says
"a candidate may appoint an agent to attend at each polling station for
the purpose of detecting impersonation and multiple voting and certifying that
the poll was conducted in accordance with the laws and regulations governing
the conduct of elections."
The CPP, PNC, NRP and the NPP at a press conference in Accra on Tuesday
said it was obvious the NDC needed the thumbprint IDs to subvert the decision
of the majority as it had done in previous elections but this time round, their
dirty tricks wound not help them.
Mr Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey, NPP's campaign manager and spokesman for the
parties stated that what the judgement meant was that the polling agents needed
to be "extra vigilant throughout the 20,000 plus polling stations to check
impersonation and to ensure that those wishing to vote more than once are
frustrated.
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Tony Aidoo booed
The NPP is reported by the Guide as stating that the military uniforms
announced missing have found their way into the Headquarters of the NDC.
In a letter to the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), and signed by
Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey, campaign manager for Mr J.A. Kufuor in Thursday's
elections, the NPP said "our report is that Dr Tony Aidoo, Deputy Minister
of Defence, has had military uniforms delivered to the NDC Headquarters.
It noted that the party has other reports of orchestrated attempts by
soldiers to disrupt the electoral process and to intimidate voters.
"The recent report of uniforms being stolen from the Quarter Master
(Q.M) Stores was a ploy to divert attentions from those who have taken delivery
of the uniforms with the intent to use them for mischievous purposes," it
said.
The NPP, the letter said, has also received reports of 'soldiers' being
used to terrorise citizens in the Northern Region, particularly in Tolon
Constituency.
The NPP drew the attention of the IGP to the explosive situation and
called upon him to investigate the allegations before things get out of hand.
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Al-Hassan wants NDC out
Dr Abubakar Al-Hassan, the National Chairman and leader of the
Convention People's Party (CPP) has said that the exit of the NDC from power
will be an important first step in the effort to revamp the national economy,
the Weekly Insight reports.
He said the NDC's 20 years in power has proved beyond doubt that Ghana
needs more competent hands to deal with the problems of under-development,
illiteracy, poverty and the lack of democratic culture.
Speaking at a rally at Yendi in the Northern Region, Dr Al-Hassan said
over the last 12 months, prices of all goods and services have risen by between
60 and 100 per cent with the cedi falling drastically in value and reducing the
real value of wages and salaries.
"We cannot allow this situation to continue forever. The time has
come for change which will improve the living standards of Ghanaians," he
said.
"We cannot allow the opportunity presented by the December 7
elections to slip by. We must take full advantage of it and place the destiny
of Ghana into the more competent hands of the CPP," he added.
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NPP in arms trafficking?
The Ghana Palaver says its monitoring team has sighted suspicious
movement of some leading members of the NPP and an arms dealer in the Airport
West residential area.
It said the residence, which is close to North Dzorwulu, a suburb of
Accra, has become a hub of intensive activity as some top NPP men are seen
sneaking in and out of the place regularly.
The paper hints of a possible pact between the NPP men and the arms
magnate for the supply of offensive weapons.
It said the involvement of very top NPP members in the clandestine and
diabolical negotiations is leading to suspicions that the NPP is busily
preparing to unleash violence on the population if it loses the December 7
elections, contrary to the deliberate ploy to divert attention from their own
'evil' grand design.
The monitoring team of the paper is undertaking further painstaking
analyses of violence-tinged utterances by the party's leading members at their
political rallies and the intensification of their shuttling between the arms
dealer's residence and a notable leading member's house in the suburb.
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Kufuor urges massive vote
Mr J.A. Kufuor, the NPP presidential candidate, has predicted that
history will be made on Thursday when Ghanaians vote to peacefully change a
government for the first time, reports the NPP News.
Appearing upbeat in a pre-election interview, Mr Kufuor who exuded
confidence over 'victory whose conclusion is foregone' appealed nonetheless,
for a vote "massive enough to ensure a first round victory and send a
clear message to politicians, whether in government or opposition.
He said the elections present the people of Ghana the opportunity to
clearly define the sources and limits of power, which ultimately belongs to and
rests with the people who merely delegate it to politicians to exercise.
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