Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey
The chairman of the opposition NPP, Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey is accusing the governing party of colluding with some Electoral Commission staff to “subvert the will of the people” by changing figures to favour the ruling NDC.
At a press conference Sunday afternoon, the party chairman said the figures that were being churned out by the EC and being reported by the media “cast serious doubt on the credibility of the results”.
According him, the NPP has discovered that the figures coming from the various constituencies have been bloated to give President Mahama and the NDC the urge.
Mr Obetsebi-Lamptey described what he said were “falsification of figures” as “worrying”.
He has therefore called on the general public to ignore the “tainted projection” announced by some media houses.
Read the full address delivered by Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey.
9th December 2012
JOHN MAHAMA AND THE NDC’S UNACCEPTABLE SYSTEMATIC RIGGING OF ELECTION 2012
The NPP has credible evidence, which undermines the integrity of the electoral process and the results officially released to date in respect of the 2012 presidential and parliamentary elections.
It is obvious from the preponderance of evidence available to us that at all material times the ruling National Democratic Congress led by President John Mahama conspired with certain EC staff in constituencies across the country to falsify the election results and thereby abuse the mandate of the people of Ghana. This situation, if allowed to go unchallenged, would seriously damage the essence of the electoral process and largely democracy in Ghana.
Substantial discrepancies have been discovered from results from collation centres when compared with the official tally figures from the EC. Considering the closeness of the polls this error is very significant and goes to the heart of the credibility of the results. Indeed, we have enough concrete evidence to show that the 2012 presidential election was won by our candidate, Nana Akufo-Addo.
It was this planned, systematic stealing of votes at the collation level that was, thankfully, discovered in time at the Dome Kwabenya constituency, where a substantial amount of 15,000 votes was illegally added to the total vote cast in favour of John Dramani Mahama of the NDC. Also, in Savelugu constituency, John Mahama of the NDC received 21,165 votes according to the EC at the collation centre. However in actual fact, 31,165 votes have been falsely declared for him. Like in all the other instances revealing this pattern of fraud, we have the blue sheets to support this blatant act of rape of the democratic mandate of the people of Ghana. The stealing of votes cast in favour of Nana Akufo-Addo is rife with fraudulent irregularities as reflected in results from Yendi constituency where more than ten thousand votes in that instance have been erased.
Unfortunately, the discovery of some of these criminal acts is done only after the collated results are declared at the constituency. We have noticed a pattern of fraud, where substantial numbers of votes are either added to the NDC candidate or subtracted from the NPP presidential candidate.
What is especially troubling is that the media have been announcing figures from the constituency collation centres that have obviously been tampered with when compared with figures from the tallying sheets (‘blue sheets’) and this is giving a highly misleading picture to the people of Ghana. For example, Peace FM and Joy FM have both announced 10,000 more votes for John Mahama, the NDC Presidential Candidate, than what was declared for him at the Ledzokuku collation centre, giving him 63,210 (60.53%), instead of 53,210.
This systematic manipulation of the figures across the country casts serious doubt on the credibility of the results. The manipulation has taken place mainly on the collation sheets. We see the tally figures on the ‘blue sheets’ in many constituencies do not match the figures on the collation sheet.
We demand that the EC conducts an audit of the collated figures as well as the counts from the biometric verification machines before the electoral results are finally released. The biometric machines that were reported to be faulty on the first day of voting in the North, miraculously worked perfectly well the next day without them being replaced or repaired.
The No Verification, No Vote, rule was also blatantly defied in several places, especially in the Upper West, Upper East and Volta Regions. In Bawku Central, Nadowli, and Salaga South, for example, high voter turnouts were registered in areas where voting occurred without the use of the verification machine. In North Tongu, for example where there was no verification, the effect of non-verification obvious. John Mahama supposedly got 34,162 in North Tongu without verification. This happened with the direct collusion of polling station officers and upwards, after the President personally called for a violation of this rule.
The size of this manipulation has influenced the final outcome. Also consistent with this systematic manipulation is the fact that the total votes cast at the presidential level are far higher than the votes cast for parliamentary candidates and most of the time we have seen this happening, are the very places where we see the collation figures manipulated.
We call upon our party members and the general public to ignore the tainted provisional results announced through the mass media. Indeed, already the election has been called for the NDC candidate by one major media house, Multi Media. But, there again discrepancies have been detected. For example, for Berekum West, Joy FM gave the NDC presidential candidate 7,750 and the NPP presidential candidate, 10,189. But, the EC’s own results on its website, state 9,091 for the NDC and 6,236 for the NPP. Also in Akwatia, Joy gives the NDC candidate 19,118 and the NPP candidate 20,678. The EC, on the other hand, gives the NDC candidate 18,963 and the NPP candidate 20,506 votes. So, we call on the people of Ghana to remain calm and wait for a proper audit of the results before declaration.
The connivance of EC staff in this electoral fraud is most worrying. For example, in the Yapei/Kusawgu constituency, the presiding officer at the Kakalito polling station recorded zero (0) for our presidential candidate. However upon a recount of the ballots, our candidate got forty-nine (49) votes.
Our Presidential Candidate, Nana Akufo Addo earlier on raised these serious concerns about the reliability of the election results with the ECOWAS observer mission headed by Gen Obasanjo when they paid a visit to him this morning.
We respectfully demand the EC not to release any official result until these extremely serious concerns are investigated thoroughly and its findings pronounced. We also call for an immediate meeting with Chairman of the Electoral Commission. These results cannot be forced down on the people of Ghana as same will be subversive of their constitutional right to determine who leads them.
Below is the letter requesting auditing of verification equipment and recount of Presidential ballot:
9th December, 2012
The Returning Officer
Presidential Election 2012
Electoral Commission
Accra
Dear Sir
RE: REQUEST FOR AN AUDIT OF VERIFICATION MACHINES AND RECOUNT OF THE PRESIDENTIAL BALLOT
I write as Chairman of NPP to express the concerns of our Party over the conduct of this year’s general election, particularly with regards to the Presidential poll. I am doing so because I believe that the proper conduct and declaration of results of a credible process is the surest way to promote the peace and stability of our democratic nation.
I have attached here a copy of a statement I have issued, that has set out in detail our concerns.
I ask that you consider the widespread and systemic abuse of the electoral process, witnessed across the country and aided by H.E. the President, John Dramani Mahama‘s statement for people to vote even if not verified by the machines, which is clearly unlawful, some of which are cited in our attached statement,
We request that you, as the Returning Officer of the Presidential Elections,
(i) Cause an audit of the Verification Machine to establish that it tallies with Constituency Collated signed results and
(ii) Order a re-collation of the presidential ballot at the constituency level to help establish the credibility and accuracy of this year’s Presidential election.
This in my view would assist considerably to allay public anxiety, which is growing hour by hour and due to the announcements being made in the Ghanaian media. It would also obviate any legal and protracted judicial proceedings on the issues and permit the resolutions of our concerns promptly, to enable due declaration to be made.
In the light of the above concerns, we request for an immediate meeting with your good self to find a resolution to these matters before you announce the results of the 2012 elections.
Yours truly,
Jake Otanka Obetsebi-Lamptey
National Chairman, New Patriotic Party
Cc Electoral Commission Members
National Peace Council