The New Patriotic Party (NPP) Bono Regional Chairman, Kwame Baffoe alias Abronye DC is challenging the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) to state any legitimate concerns they have with the voters’ register and allow the Electoral Commission (EC) to address.

“If indeed the NDC has a genuine case, they should state the same and let the EC decide on such a basis,” he stated.

Addressing the media after the NDC's nationwide demonstration against the EC on Tuesday, September 17, 2024, the NPP Bono Regional Chairman reiterated the party’s commitment to peaceful elections.

He warned that they would resist any attempts by the NDC to ‘intimidate’ voters or disrupt the electoral process.

He condemned the call for a forensic audit of the voters’ register before the December 2024 general elections and labelled the NDC’s claims of a ‘bloated voters’ register as ‘false’ and ‘malicious.’

“They have failed to inform Ghanaians about the polling stations where the supposed register is bloated. The opposition NDC is deliberately raising this false alarm against the EC to achieve their diabolical and undemocratic plan of going into the 2024 elections with their referee instead of the constitutionally mandated Electoral Commission,” he said.

Below is the full statement:

Ladies and gentlemen of the media, Good morning! Thank you for honouring our invitation to this press conference. We called you this morning in respect of the opposition NDC’s call for a forensic audit of the voters” register.

Ladies and Gentlemen of the media, the claim of the NDC, that current the voter’s register is bloated is not only false but same is borne out of malice.

The opposition NDC which has no policy for this year’s elections made the unfounded claim when the Electoral Commission began the exhibition exercise which ended on the 27th of August, 2024.

Between the period of the exhibition exercise and the closure of the same, the shameless NDC and some self-acclaimed security experts who are under the payroll of the NDC have failed to provide a detailed report of their claim to the Ghanaian people. For instance, they have failed to inform Ghanaians about the polling stations where the supposed register is bloated and under which constituencies or their Regions.

It is also imperative to note that, the NDC has also failed to furnish the ELECTORAL COMMISSION which is mandated by law to conduct elections in this country areas of the supposed errors they have identified.

Ladies and Gentlemen, what the NDC is currently seeking to do is not so different from the lies they told Ghanaians after the 2020 elections, that they have won but then again failed to provide evidence of their victory when they appeared before the Supreme Court.

The opposition NDC is deliberately raising this false alarm against the EC to achieve their diabolical and undemocratic plan of going into the 2024 elections with their referee instead of the constitutionally mandated Electoral Commission. This very stance of the NDC was visibly affirmed by their presidential candidate on the 20th of June 2024, on Ghana web and I quote;

“We don’t trust the EC; we’ll go into 2024 elections with our referee."

Ladies and Gentlemen, this statement by the former President is treasonable and we call on the US Embassy, UK Embassy, Canadian Embassy, German Embassy, UNDP, Ecowas, AU, the Ghana Police Service, and the National Security to take notice of the above statement made by the former President, John Dramani Mahama.

We must bear in mind that, John Dramani Mahama’s attitude, actions, and inactions towards these upcoming elections are not so different from that of OSAMA BIN LADEN’s who destroyed the World Trade Centre some years back.

Ladies and Gentlemen, the opposition NDC have not won any genuine elections in this country and this was confirmed by the former first lady of the Republic of Ghana, Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings, this makes the NDC always think that the NPP is much the same as them but they must be clear in their minds that, the New Patriotic Party has been winning elections in this country based on our well understandable and trustworthy policies. Rigging is Not in our DNA.

NDC’S CLaim of errors on the register:

Ladies and Gentlemen, it is not so surprising that the NDC is now drifting away from their earlier position in 2015, on electoral matters, especially the issue of having a transparent voter’s register for free and fair Elections. When the committee of eminent was put in place in 2015, chaired by V.C.R.A.C CRABBE to ascertain the complaint of double registration, irregularities, inaccuracies, and foreigners’ names on the register, the NDC who was then in government, was emphatic on this matter and this was what Mr. Asiedu Nketiah, who represented the NDC told the committee on the 19th of November 2015, at page 20 and I quote;

“On cleaning the voters register, the NDC representative said, it can be done using the existing mechanisms, the exhibition procedures, challenging and objecting to names of unqualified persons in the register this according to the party should be the right approach”.

Ladies and Gentlemen, what has changed that the NDC can’t use the position they preached or canvassed in 2015 to correct the errors they are complaining about in the current register?

On the 29th of October 2015, when the NDC representative in the person of Mr. Asiedu Nketiah appeared before the V.C.R.A.C. Crabbe committee, he said that the introduction of the Biometric voter register is a good thing and that nobody should question the integrity of the BVR and this statement was captured in page 14 paragraph (g) of the late Justice Crabbe’s report and I quote;

“In the process of compiling the Biometric voters register, all stakeholders were actively involved in decisions leading to the compilation, and everyone had ample opportunity to make inputs. The process was free from political manipulation or intimidation and therefore provided all eligible persons with the necessary and required environment to be captured in the Biometric voters’ register. The biometric process itself was designed to ensure that only eligible voters whose biodata was captured could be on the voters’ register. Overall, the high integrity of the process of registration, makes the register, without doubt, one of the fairest, most credible, and freest political exercises undertaken in Ghana hence the validity of the register cannot be questioned. The verification machine itself provided an additional safeguard to ensure that no person could vote more than once in any election”

Ladies and Gentlemen, flowing from the above statement made by the NDC before the late Crabbe committee, I would like to ask the following questions in the just-ended registration and exhibition exercise.;

1. Did the NDC take part in the registration exercises?

2. Did their representatives present all over the registration centers?

3. Was the registration exercise free and fair?

4. Was there a complaint filed by the NDC during the Registration exercise?
Can voters in the current register vote more than once?

5. Why is it that, the NDC is adamant about letting the Ghanaian people know or see the supposed errors they are talking about?

Illegal vote transfers in 2016:

Ladies and gentlemen, is it not surprising that up till now the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has not responded to the statement made by Madam Charlotte Osei, the former Commissioner of the Electoral Commission, indicating that, her then deputy Amadu Suley, instructed officials of the Commission to carry out illegal vote Transfers on the voter management system. This statement was captured in paragraph 28, VII of Charlotte Osei’s response in respect of the petition filed by some staff of the EC for her removal and I quote ”

“The Deputy Chairperson Operations has persistently instructed officials to carry out illegal vote transfers on the Voter management system in clear breach of the law and operational policies of the Commission. Such actions have major implications for the integrity of the work of the Commission and constitute abuse of office”.

Because the NDC directly benefited from the said illegal vote transfers, they have been silent on the issue raised by the former Commissioner, and No wonder they immediately jumped into the defence of Amadu Sule instead of responding to the critical issue raised by Charlotte Osei.

Ladies and gentlemen, it is an undeniable fact that all electoral reforms in the Fourth Republic were canvassed by the New Patriotic Party and a clear indication that the NPP is always up for a credible voters” register. The NDC is crying for a “wolf” where there is NO wolf. The NDC is inviting Ghanaians to attend a funeral where there is No dead person.

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The NDC is typically running away from defeat because of the momentum that our flagbearer Dr Mahamadu Bawumia is gaining from the Ghanaian electorates and therefore they are preparing to give some frivolous excuses after 7th December 2024, to their unintelligent supporters that, they lost the elections based on the inaccuracies and errors in the voters register.

If indeed, the NDC has a genuine case, they should state the same and let EC decide on such basis. This was their dead goat and Government Official One position in 2015, when he said and I quote “Voter’s register: state your case and let EC decide – Mahama tells critics. “Which was published by myjoyonline on 8th October 2015”.

Can’t the NDC today state their position for the EC to decide?

If the NDC, thinks that their imbiber presidential candidate is not a good choice for the electorates, he should just withdraw from the contest to pave the way for the young dynamic presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party who has a clear vision for this country.

Ladies and Gentlemen, friends of the media, former president John Dramani Mahama is not only alky but a warmonger hence his treasonable statement that, the NDC is going into this election with their own ‘referee’. The NPP is for peace but will resist any attempt by the NDC to shortchange the will of the people through intimidation.

Ladies and Gentlemen, it is untenable, unwarranted, mind-boggling, and balderdash on the part of former President John Dramani Mahama to have made a declaration at Sampa in the Jaman North Constituency that, all NDC members should on 17th September 2024 besiege all the Electoral Commission offices nationwide to demand credible voters register when he on 14th July 2016 granted an interview on Radio Savannah that there is NO perfect voters register existing in the world and that, all issues concerning the register could be perfectly handled by the Electoral Commission of which the said interview was published by Ghana web with the caption "NO perfect voters’ register exists in the world- Mahama"

If I may ask, can’t the same EC handle the issues that the NDC has yet to identify in the register?

Can’t those errors be rectified by using the exhibition mechanism as canvassed by Mr. Johnson Asiedu Nketiah in 2015 before the late Justice Crabbe Committee, if indeed what they are saying is true?