"The press in the Assembly is led by a member of the NPP; they can ruin us "- Otukunor

Policy of Monday, January 28, 2019

Source: citinewsroom.com

2019-01-28

The National Democratic Congress (NDC), an opposition party, rejected the proposals of six of its presidential election candidates to award the contract for the printing of ballot papers for the next presidential primary at a state-owned printing house.

According to the six aspirants, namely: Alban SK Bagbin, Nurudeen Ali, Mensah Sylvester, Ekwow Spio-Garbrah, Goosie Tanoh and Joshua Alabi, the party should award the contract to print the ballots to a reputable company such as the Assembly Press. , to make sure that some of the irregularities that shook the election of the national party executive in November 2018 no longer happen again.

Subsequently, the aspirants petitioned party leaders on Saturday, claiming that the voter register for the polls was also without a photo.

In an interview with Citi News, Peter Otukunor, deputy general secretary of the party, said that such an approach would be very risky, since the printing press is run by a dedicated member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
"This question is very interesting. Even to suggest that we get a printing house headed by David Asante, a member of the NPP and a leader of the Alliance Let My Vote Count, to print our ballots for us, is very unfortunate. And if he decided to ruin us, then we would have big problems. "

"Purchases and management of the party administration can not be left to aspiring flag bearers. The party did not communicate them with a printer. It is therefore regrettable that they raise these concerns when the process itself has not started yet, "he added.

About the petition

The petition was sent to the party's National Election Committee and forwarded to NDC National Council of Nouns, Jerry John Rawlings, NDC Secretary General Johnson Asiedu Nketia, and party chairman Samuel Ofosu Ampofo.

The six candidates also asked the electoral commission to provide them with a register of voters containing photographs of voters.

According to Citi News sources, the petition was presented to Bede Ziedeng, a member of the elections committee on Saturday, at the party's headquarters.

In their petition, they complained that "the register of electors provided to candidates consists of only a list of names without a photo, a voter's card number, or even a party card number" .

"There is also a considerable inconsistency in formatting. Our concern is, of course, that this approach creates opportunities for usurping voter identity and unnecessary confusion on polling day, "they added.

They also asked for a briefing on the logistics, transportation and feeding of polling day.

Voting register

Peter Otukunor, reacting to concerns about the lack of photographs and ID card numbers on the register of voters, said that would not change either, as the candidates had been properly informed of the situation.

"We had a lot of discussion about the registry issue with the candidates. Even the Electoral Commission will not give you a register with the photos of the voters, which we gave them is well verified. We agreed that all registrants would not be allowed to vote if they did not provide any form of identification. "

NDC presidential primaries

Seven pillars of the NDC are currently seeking to be the flag bearer in the 2020 elections, with the party holding elections on February 23, 2019.

All seven were duly screened and voting for the locations on the ballot was also conducted.

Former President John Dramani Mahama has chosen third place on the ballot at the next presidential primary of the National Democratic Congress.

At the vote on Wednesday, the Nadowli-Kaleo MP, Alban Bagbin, chose the first place, followed by Nurudeen Iddrisu's businessman.

Fourth place was chosen by Sylvester Mensah, followed by Ekwow Spio-Garbrah, Goosie Tanoh and Professor Joshua Alabi in that order.

Bede-Zieding, the NDC's acting chief electoral officer, told the media that the ballots would be printed from February 3 to 17, 2019, after which they would be sent to all the electoral district centers where the elections will take place.

Without an injunction on the presidential election of the NDC, the party would have conducted the exercise before the end of January 2019.

The NDC finally agreed to declare its guidelines for the presidential primaries null and void after protests over transparency and filing fees that were reduced along the line.

In addition to agreeing to hold the elections in a free, fair and transparent manner, the party has also decided to consider the 300,000 GHC not as a filing fee, but also as a contribution from the parties concerned to cover the cost of primary.