5 days ago
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Recount of Presidential and Parliamentary election votes and declaration of results at the Tesano Police Depot in Accra have been halted until further notice, the Electoral Commission (EC) has said.
The EC said it was conducting this exercise at Tesano for constituencies whose collation did not follow the legal process as enshrined in C.I. 127 as well as constituencies where collation on Election Day could not be completed.
“The inability to collate and declare results on Election Day which led to the re-collation at the Tesano Police Depot, was due to disruptions of our collation processes by political party supporters on Election Day and the days following, said Mr Samuel Tettey, Deputy Chairman in charge of Operations, at a press conference on Friday.
Mr Tettey said the EC had told the political parties of the change after an agreement with the Ghana Police Service.
“It is instructive for the Public to know that the Commission informed Political Parties of the change in location to the Tesano Police Training Depot after agreement with the Inspector General of Police and his Team,” he said.
He said all the Agents of the political parties observed the process on Thursday, which resulted in the collation and declaration of results for the Fanteakwa North, Akwatia and Suhum constituencies.
Mr Tettey urged stakeholders in the electoral process to collaborate with the Commission as they carry out their mandate.
Meanwhile, the National Democratic Congress (NDC), the party that won the December 7, Presidential election had described the recount and re-declaration of results at the Tesano Police Depot as an “illegality.”
The General Secretary of the party, Mr Johnson Asiedu Nketia said the NDC was “unaware” of the recount and that the exercise was unconstitutional.
“We in the NDC believe that what is happening at the Police Training School amounts to illegality. It is not founded in any law of our elections, neither is it based on any consensus that have been reached between the parties and the Electoral Commission,” Mr Nketia said.
The NDC National Chairman said election results were collated and declared at polling stations.
He explained that per the laws governing elections in the country, election results are counted, collated and declared at the polling stations.
“We know, the process of our election is quite clear. After voting, votes are counted and the results entered on what we call the result declaration form or the pink sheet and the presiding officer proceeds to announce the outcomes at the polling station after which all party agents sign and then are given copies of the results,” Mr Nketia said.
But the New Patriotic Party (NPP), who benefitted from the recount said the recount was necessary to ensure the sanctity of the polls.
The Member of Parliament for Nsawam-Adoagyiri Constituency, Mr Frank Annoh Dompreh, whose constituency’s recount was put on hold told journalists in an interview on Friday that he was optimistic of victory.
BY MALIK SULLEMANA
