Conduct of recent District Assembly Elections is illegal – Minority Chief Whip

Story: Benjamin Makafui Attipoe, Sogakope

The Minority Chief Whip and Member of Parliament (MP) for the Adaklu Constituency in the Volta Region, Hon. Governs Kwame Agbodza has accused the Electoral Commission (EC) of conducting an illegal District Level Elections on Tuesday, 19th December, last year. According to him, the non-use of indelible ink in that nationwide election on the voter is not a discretion but a matter of law.

Speaking at Sogakope during the ‘Building Ghana’ tour by former President John Dramani Mahama, Mr. Agbodza hinted that the Minority in Parliament would take the necessary legal action against the EC when Parliament reconvenes. 

The fact-finding and ‘Building Ghana’ tour by the former President, John Dramani Mahama took him not only to the southern part of the Volta Region but also to Ho and Hohoe where he also interacted with the members of the Volta Regional House of Chiefs as well as several stakeholders of the region including worker and student groups. 

The engagements allowed the former President to hear from the horse's mouth changes and the frustrations of the Ghanaian people who are yearning for a second coming of former President John Dramani Mahama.

The former President was accompanied by some party faithful, former government appointees and functionaries, MPs, members of the council of elders as well as a constituency, regional and national executives.

In December 2023, the EC Chairperson, Madam Jean Mensah announced the discontinuous use of the indelible ink in the recent District Assembly Elections, pointing out that the verification system employed by the EC was enough measure to prevent any double voting or cheating for that matter which has been the concern of all stakeholders including the EC. 

The decision resulted in the non-use of the indelible mark on voters in that election, sparking off several reactions from some stakeholders including the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) who vehemently opposed the decision of the EC.

Speaking on the subject matter at Sogakope during former President Mahama’s visit to the Volta Region, the Minority Chief Whip described the exercise as illegal, arguing that the use of the indelible ink was not discretionary as exercised by Madam Jeam Mensah but grounded in law in the CI 127. 

According to the Adaklu lawmaker, the Minority is also opposed to the closure of the December 2024 polls at 3 pm, adding that it would take on the EC when Parliament resumes from its current break.

He emphasized that the Minority would not support any effort to change CI 127 to as he put it make it possible for anyone to rig the 2024 general elections through over-voting amongst others.

The Minority Chief Whip said the NDC would not go to court over the outcome of this year’s polls, adding that if anyone would go to court, it is the NPP and its flagbearer, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia. In his view, the NDC would win the polls at the polling stations and not in the law court.

Mr. Agbodza cautioned the governing NPP against deploying soldiers and other security agencies to the Volta Region during elections to as it were intimidate Voltaians as was the case in the 2020 elections. 

According to him, the NDC would not countenance such a move, saying Voltaians would no longer be intimidated again in any future elections.

On Friday, 10th July 2020 when former President Mahama called on the Asogli Traditional Council at the Volta Regional capital of Ho during a tour of the Volta Region, he was unhappy about what he described as the military deployment to the Volta Region by the government, noting that never in the history of Ghana that any government had questioned the citizenship of Ghanaians including their right to vote in a manner such as how it was being done by the NPP. 

Mr. Adaklu MP also commended the former President for not congratulating the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo on his 2020 election victory, saying the President and the NPP have not done much about the eight (8) innocent Ghanaians who died in that election to deserve such applause. 

According to him, there is no basis for any congratulatory message when the families of those victims including children have not seen justice for all these seven (7) years. ‘Mr. President, we congratulate you for not also congratulating the President for the outcome of the 2020 polls, Hon. Agbodza intimated.