EC may disenfranchise 2.5 million registered
voters – NDC
NDC supporters
urged to vote for NPP
Eleven NDC
supporters injured in accident
NDC urges Ghanaians to seek peace
Investigate registration of minors as voters
- Nuamah-Donkor
NDC needs another mandate –Minister
NDC resents donor interference in Ghana's
affairs – Awoonor
Queen mother asks voters to shake off apathy
Reform candidate predicts defeat of NDC
Educational system is counter-productive –
candidate
Journalists urged
to ensure success of election
NDC Youth threaten vengeance if police don't
act
Parties commit themselves to peaceful
elections
Ghana is gaining notoriety for road
accidents—Grant
EC may disenfranchise 2.5 million
registered voters – NDC
Accra (Greater Accra) 22 November 2000
The National Democratic Congress (NDC) on Tuesday said the decision of the Electoral Commission to allow only voters with Photo Identity Cards to vote will disenfranchise 2.5 million registered voters.
Professor Kofi Awoonor, National Vice- Chairman of NDC, told a press conference in Accra that the commission's own estimation of the exchange of thumbprint ID cards for photo indicates a 75 per cent coverage. He asked: "What happens to the eligible 25 per cent?"
The EC puts the total number of voters at 10.7 million out of a national population of 18.4 million. The EC chairman, Dr Kwadwo Afari-Gyan says that the voter population being 58.14 per cent of the national population makes the register too huge and cause for concern.
Prof. Awoonor said the fundamental evidence that a person can vote is the fact that he or she merely has to establish identity through the voters' register.
Quoting from EC's "Guide to Election Officials 2000", Prof. Awoonor said the commission categorically states that voters without ID cards can vote provided they satisfy certain conditions. These include the voter's name being on the list and all the candidates/party agents affirm the person.
If the person's identity is not clear, they would ask him/her to give some personal particulars and if these are correct and the candidate/party agents are satisfied that the identity is not in doubt, the voter is allowed to cast his/her ballot.
The presiding officer is also to compile list of all persons who voted without Voter ID card. Prof. Awoonor asked: "Is the EC not contradicting its own working document?"
He said the NDC has persistently drawn the attention of the EC to the haphazard, inefficient and poor manner the exchange of thumbprint ID cards to photo ID was carried out in many constituencies which led to hundreds of voters not being able to participate.
He said the EC assured the nation that cameras would be left behind at the district capitals to continue taking the pictures of those who missed target.
Prof. Awoonor said evidence shows that many of the rural folks have not been able to travel to the district capitals where the cameras are kept.
He said the photographers have also refused to go to the polling stations, especially in the big constituencies. He mentioned in particularly North and South Tongu, Kwame Danso, Afram Plains South, Ejura Sekyedumase, Nsuta-Kumawu as well as the overseas areas of the three northern regions.
GRi…/
NDC supporters
urged to vote for NPP
Accra (Greater Accra) 22 November
2000
Supporters of the National
Democratic Congress (NDC) have been urged to assess the poor state of the
economy and vote for the NPP in next month's election.
"This is because the economy
has grown from bad to worse due to mismanagement by the government," Mr
Samuel Odoi Sykes, National Chairman of the NPP said at a well-attended
Odododiodio constituency rally of the party in Accra on Tuesday.
He said, "after 20 years of
NDC rule, Ghanaians are worse of than ever before and the situation is becoming
alarming hence the need for change".
Mr Odoi Sykes said "in spite
of the fact that the NDC is the longest serving party in the country's history,
it has very little to show in terms of improvement in the lives of the
people".
He stated that the NPP
presidential candidate would bring respect to the office of the President
through his utterances rather than devalue it".
The National Chairman said,
"it is unfortunate that Vice President Atta Mills has failed to advise the
President against pronouncements that do not promote peace".
Mr Jake Obetsebi Lamptey, Campaign
Manager, denied that the party would seek vengeance when it assumes power and
said, "we are in race to escape poverty and you cannot win that race by
looking backwards".
"Ghana is looking to the NPP
as a ray of hope and when you vote for Mr J. A. Kufuor, we shall not fail
you," he said.
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Eleven NDC
supporters injured in accident
Cape Coast (Central Region) 22
November 2000
Eleven NDC supporters sustained
injuries when the vehicle they were travelling on from Essakyir to Cape Coast
for a rally was involved in an accident on the Cape Coast-Accra highway.
Ten of them, believed to be from
the same community near Mankessim, were treated and discharged with one, Kweku
Seidu, aged 30, being admitted overnight at the Cape Coast Central Regional
Hospital on Saturday.
The Central Regional MTTU
Commander, Mr Maxwell Atingani, speaking to the Ghana News Agency, on Tuesday
appealed to the driver of the Pick-Up belonging to the NDC, to contact the
police.
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NDC urges Ghanaians to seek peace
Kumasi (Ashanti Region) 22 November 2000
Alhaji Huudu Yahaya, General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), on Sunday inaugurated a branch of the Voltarians Co-ordinating Council (VCC) at Adukrom in Kumasi with a call on Ghanaians to ensure peaceful elections.
He said Ghanaians have no other country apart from Ghana, and urged the party's supporters to always preach peace and reconciliation.
Accompanied by Dr. Mohamed Ibn Chambas, a Deputy Minister of Education and Alhaji Issaka Inusa, a leading member of the NDC, Alhaji Yahaya asked the party faithful to guard against the tendency of disenfranchising some electorate because of tribal, racial, ethnic or cultural reasons since this can lead to violence and chaos.
The Reverend Torgbui Fugah, Ashanti Regional Chairman of the VCC, said committees for peace and development comprising all tribal heads have been formed in all the 33 constituencies in the region to address issues pertaining to peace, stability and development.
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Investigate registration of minors as
voters - Nuamah-Donkor
Kumasi (Ashanti Region) 22 November 2000
Mr Samuel Nuamah-Donkor, Ashanti Regional Minister on Tuesday asked the police and the Inter Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) in the region to investigate alleged registration of minors as voters and to submit a report to the Regional Security Council (REGSEC) in a week.
Mr Nuamah-Donkor gave the directive at a meeting between REGSEC and representatives of registered political parties, religious bodies and the media in Kumasi.
He said there are allegations that minors have contributed to the bloated register in the region and should be prevented from voting or their names expunged from the register.
He said about 38,000 Junior Senior Secondary School (JSS) pupils below the voting age are suspected to have registered and to ensure fairness and transparency in the elections the issue should be investigated.
Mr Nuamah-Donkor appealed to leading members of the parties to bring peace in the region by using decent language in their campaigns and condemn acts that will tarnish the image of the country.
Mr Victor Owusu (Junior) representing the NPP suggested that the investigation should be made nation- wide since similar incidents have been reported in other parts of the country.
Mr Kwabena Anim, Secretary of the CPP said the regional investigations should go ahead and when it proves successful extended to other regions.
Mr Frank Godfrey Antwi, of the Roman Catholic Church called on the political parties not only to preach peace but practise it in their actions and utterances.
He said the FM stations should also be circumspect in the programmes that they broadcast in order not create unnecessary tension.
GRi…/
NDC needs another mandate –Minister
Tuobodom (Brong Ahafo) 22 November 2000
Mr Isaac Adjei-Mensah, Minister of Works and Housing and Member of Parliament for Techiman North, said at the weekend that the NDC has not completed its development agenda and therefore needs another mandate.
He said although the country has seen massive infrastructural development under the ruling party, the government must be given another term to complete its programme.
Mr Adjei-Mensah, who was addressing an NDC rally at Tuobodom, said the government would continue to champion the cause of the ordinary people and asked them to vote massively for the party in the general election.
He advised supporters of the party not to see members of the opposition as enemies but to co-exist peacefully to protect the hard-won stability and peace in the country.
Mr Joseph Kwaku Nkrumah Oppong, Brong Ahafo Regional Secretary of the party, said the NDC has proved to be a party of the people and for the people.
GRi…/
Kumasi (Ashanti Region) 22 November 2000
All polling agents will swear an oath to sign the electoral forms on which results will be recorded at the polling stations after the counting of ballot in the December 7 elections.
Any polling agent who refuses to sign the form will be prosecuted at the law courts, Mr Samuel Ntow, Ashanti Regional Deputy Director of the Electoral Commission (EC) said in Kumasi on Tuesday.
Speaking at the opening of a two-day seminar on election procedure for members of the Regional Council of Labour, Mr Ntow said if a polling agent is dissatisfied with the results, there is a declaration form, which he can fill for the EC to take the necessary action.
The seminar, the eighth in a series organised by the TUC under its voter education programme, has assembled about 80 participants from all the 18 districts of the region.
GRi…/
NDC resents donor interference in Ghana's
affairs – Awoonor
Accra (Greater Accra) 22 November 2000
The NDC on Tuesday said it appreciates donor support to Ghana but it resents any interference in the country's domestic affairs, which would compromise its sovereignty because of those gestures.
Professor Kofi Awoonor, a Vice-Chairman of the party, addressing a press conference on the electoral process said: "We as a party in government must express our appreciation for the support the country has received from donor friends towards the electoral programme.
"But we wish to place on record our deep displeasure at the utterances, attitudes and conduct of some members of some diplomatic missions who believe that because they give us support for our elections they must dictate to us what we must do in this country."
Prof. Awonor said the country's sovereignty, no matter what level of support we receive as a nation, will not be allowed to be undermined or abridged in any manner or form whatsoever. "We resent in no uncertain terms any attitude that is condescending and insulting to our dignity as a nation."
He referred to statements made by the Deputy British High Commissioner, Mr Craig Murray, at the Speaker's Breakfast Forum in Accra on Monday that there was no problem with the photo ID cards in constituencies he has visited.
Mr Murray had said his visit to 40 constituencies had revealed no problem with photo ID cards and that no one complained.
Prof. Awoonor quoted the High Commissioner as saying, "those who are now complaining are people who do not exist" and challenged him to show which constituencies and the people he claimed to have visited or "have been feeding him with these fantasies."
The Electoral Commissioner said on Monday that only those with photo ID cards would vote on December 7. Prof. Awoonor asked the EC to come out with a definite position on the photo ID card issue. "There is confusion in the minds of millions of Ghanaians particularly those who could not have their pictures taken, though they are registered voters, as to what their position will be on Election Day.
"We speak on behalf of not only NDC would-be voters ...but also on behalf of the millions of Ghanaians who qualify to vote and have their names on the register."
Prof. Awoonor said the NDC has received reports that in some regions, minority groups and settler farmers are being threatened and harassed to the extent that there is a noticeable exodus of some of them to their hometowns in the hope of transferring their votes at this last minute.
"Obviously, this is not feasible and many of them will end up being disenfranchised. This sinister attempt to revive memories of Busia's discredited Aliens Compliance Order by a programme of ethnic cleansing in the so-called NPP strongholds is reprehensible and must be condemned by all Ghanaians," he said.
Prof. Awoonor said the NDC is asking all party executives at the ward and constituency levels to stand firm and resist any effort to expel them from their farms and villages in any part of the country where they reside.
GRi…/
Queen mother asks voters to shake off
apathy
Kpando (Volta Region) 22 November 2000
Mama Adokuwa Asigbley VI, Queenmother of the Tefle Traditional Area, on Saturday called on Ghanaians to desist from their lukewarm attitude towards voting because every single vote counts in an election. She therefore urged all eligible voters to cast their votes on December 7.
Mama Asigbley, who is also a member of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), made the call at a community durbar organised by the Volta Regional Consultative Body of the NCCE at Sovie in the Kpando District at the weekend.
She urged candidates who might lose the forthcoming election to accept defeat and assist winners in ensuring national development.
Mama Asigbley advised Ghanaians to be tolerant and avoid violence during next month's elections to maintain the current peace in the country.
She observed that the quest for peace should be equally important to all political parties since members of the various parties are Ghanaians and will remain so after the elections.
The Right Reverend Japheth Ledo, out-going Moderator of the Evangelical Presbyterian (EP) Church, Ghana, and also a member of the Regional Consultative Body of the NCCE, entreated Ghanaians to learn from the experiences of other countries, which were plunged into civil war as a result of political differences, and preserve the current peace in the country.
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Reform candidate predicts defeat of NDC
Agona Nsaba (Cental Region) 22 November 2000
Mr Kofi Anane Agyei, National Reform Party (NRP) parliamentary candidate for Agona East, at the weekend predicted that the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) would lose the December 7 election.
Mr Agyei, who was addressing members of the party at a rally at Agona Nsaba, said this is because Ghanaians are facing one of the worst economic crises of their time.
He said the NDC has swindled the people in the country for far too long and they should not allow themselves to be deceived with cutlasses, soap, cash, bicycles and party T-shirts in this election year.
"The NDC has nothing to offer the people of this country as far as better living conditions are concerned," he said, and urged them to vote it out of power.
Mr Agyei said the NDC government has impoverished the people and no efforts are being made to change the fortunes of the masses who, are dying of hunger, disease, poverty and oppression.
He stressed that the NRP government would give subsidies to agriculture and provide adequate credit facilities to the informal sector to help revamp the economy.
The aspiring MP stated that a NRP government would establish a Trust Fund and Resource Centres in the rural areas where both farmers and small-scale industrialists could seek funds to improve their businesses.
The extension service of the Ministry of Agriculture would also be well funded by the government to enable them to offer useful assistance to farmers to increase food production.
Mr Agyei assured the electorate that all centralised policies adopted by the NDC government, which had impeded human development would be repealed.
GRi…/
Educational system is counter-productive –
candidate
Surano (Western Region) 22 November 2000
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) parliamentary candidate for Bibiani-Anhwiaso-Bekwai constituency, Mr Christopher Addae, said at the weekend that the present educational system is counter-productive and needs to be reviewed.
He observed that the educational system is unable to turn out the calibre of people capable of adequately addressing the country's development needs.
Mr Addae made the observation when he addressed separate rallies organised by the Bibiani-Anhwiaso-Bekwai NPP constituency secretariat at Surano and Etwebo in the Western Region.
He therefore gave the assurance that an NPP government would review the educational system and make it more responsive to the needs and aspirations of Ghanaians.
He expressed regret that even though the country derives the bulk of its revenue from the Sefwi portion of the country, it has been deliberately denied of its fair share of development.
He advised NPP supporters and members to exercise restraint even in the face of extreme provocation from their political opponents and focus more on canvassing for more members to propel the NPP to victory in December polls.
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Journalists urged
to ensure success of election
Cape Coast (Central Region) 22
November 2000
Journalists and media houses have
been urged to report issues that will help the electorate to make informed
choices in the December election.
Mr. Frankie Asare-Donkoh,
Secretary of the Ghanaian Centre of 'International Pen, recounted the
performance of the media in the last two elections and said a section failed to
live up to expectation and said there should be an improvement this year.
He was speaking at a seminar on
Tuesday for media practitioners in the Central Region on the theme,
"Towards Peaceful, Free and Fair Elections: The Role of the Writer,"
at Cape Coast.
Mr Asare-Donkoh asked journalists
to "hold high the banner of fairness and objectivity," saying the
success of the election would depend on how the media helps the electorate to
make choices.
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NDC Youth threaten vengeance if police
don't act
Goaso (Brong Ahafo) 22 November 2000
The Goaso youth wing of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) at the weekend gave the police up to Friday to take action on a complaint of assault on its members by a group of vulcanisers at Goaso or it will retaliate against the assailants.
The youth said they are fed up with the inaction of the police on acts of violence and provocation perpetuated against members of the party, adding that they would be compelled "to descend on the suspects in revenge, if they are not brought to justice by Friday, November 24".
Mr. Adamu Mohammed, Organiser and spokesman for the youth said this when the Asunafo District Chief Executive, Mr. Mohammed Doku, met them at the weekend after they had undertaken communal labour to clear a thicket in the town used as a hideout by criminals.
Mr. Adamu said the same group of people misbehaved towards the Vice President, Prof. J.E. Atta Mills when he visited the town recently.
He said the police's persistent failure to deal with such persons has emboldened them to continue to misbehave towards NDC members and functionaries in the district.
"We can only tolerate such acts of provocation to a level but if it continues beyond a certain point, we will act to protect our interests and if that happens nobody should blame us but the police".
The DCE cautioned political leaders in the district to prevail upon their members especially the youth to desist from violence.
He said, " the time has come for all of us to teach our youth to be calm and use their abundant energy to assist in the development of their communities".
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Parties commit themselves to peaceful
elections
Gushegu (Northern Region) 22 November 2000
Political parties in the Gushegu-Karaga district at the weekend pledged to work for violence-free elections on December 7.
Representatives of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), the National Democratic Congress (NDC) United Ghana Movement (UGM), Convention People's Party (CPP) People's National Convention (PNC) and the National Reform Party (NRP) made the commitment at a day's workshop on peace at Gushegu.
About 20 political activists attended the workshop organised by the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) on the theme: "political parties, partners in peaceful elections".
They agreed to avoid the use of provocative language at rallies and other political forums that could inflame passions and undermine the peace.
GRi…/
Ghana is gaining notoriety for road
accidents--Grant
Accra (Greater Accra) 22 November 2000
Dr (Mrs) Mary Grant, member of the Council of State, on Monday said the country is attaining international notoriety for road accidents.
"Although information on the road accident rate is incomplete, nevertheless what is known is no less disturbing," she said.
Dr Grant, who was addressing the launch of Global Road Safety Partnership (GRSP) Ghana, in Accra, said population congestion in urban centres is a major contributor of road accidents.
GRSP is a network of professionals and individuals that are committed to the aims of reducing road accidents
Up-to-date statistics are not available, but the Acting Minister of Roads and Transport, Mr Steve Akorli, says about 1,300 people die and 10,000 others are injured annually on the country's roads.
Recent estimates place pedestrian fatality rate at 45 per cent compared with about 20 per cent in Europe, according to the Minister.
Dr Grant identified some of the causes of road accidents as poor construction of roads, sharp curves and blind spots as well as inadequate road maintenance.
Others are types of vehicles and their conditions, drivers' poor level of education, inability to understand the road code and poor eyesight.
She said the effects of road accidents constitute economic loss to individuals and the nation, therefore all resources must be mobilised to reduce accidents.
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