By Larry-Alans Dogbey

What has become known as “the dead body formula” in political circles last Tuesday yet again failed the largest opposition party, the New Patriotic Party (NPP), when it turned out that senior members of the party had lied to the public that three of its supporters had been killed in the Atiwa Constituency of the Eastern Region in the by-election.

NPP National Chairman, Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey and Frances Awurabena Essiam who hold no portfolio in the party, were loudly heard on a couple of radio stations, including Joy FM, Citi FM and Oman, claim that NPP members have been killed, but it later emerged that not even a single soul was lost during the election, as claimed by the NPP bigwigs.

“The dead body formula” is a brainchild of the Member of Parliament for Abuakwa South, Samuel Atta Akyea. He was captured on tape at a secret meeting with some NPP cliques discussing how to produce a corpse to back the party’s claim that its polling agents were beaten and killed in the Volta Region to enable the NDC to rig the 2008 Presidential run-off.

The Electoral Commission (EC) chaired by Dr. Kwadwo Afari-Gyan, which had called for the evidence of electoral malpractices would have stalled the declaration of the results, had the meeting held in Atta Akyea’s office succeeded in getting a corpse as evidence of someone who was killed in the stronghold of the NDC during the election.

The NPP had claimed that the three persons died when the sports utility vehicle being driven by Deputy Eastern Regional Minister Baba Jamal and the NDC’s National Women’s Organizer, Anita De-Souza, ploughed through a crowd of NPP fanatics who had barricaded a road preventing people from having access to the Polling stations.

But the Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Kwesi Ofori, the Eastern Regional Minister, Samuel Ofosu Ampofo and the Eastern Regional Police Commander insisted the claims were false. They said this after several visits to health facilities in the Atiwa Constituency.

Baba Jamal, who Frances Asiam had referred to on radio as a “murderer” and an idiot, said that he was not even in the said car and the town, Obomosu, where the so-called killing took place. The NDC woman Organizer also denied running over irate NPP fanatics and killing three in the process.

The Medical Director of the Koforidua Regional Hospital also denied reports that people died from riots that broke out during the by-election at Atiwa. Dr. Daniel Asare said the hospital has not received any dead or injured persons from Atiwa as claimed by Essiam.

The Minority Leader, Kyei Mensah-Bonsu, who also spoke on the same subject, merely said although he heard reports about deaths he only saw some injured persons when he and Papa Owusu-Ankomah went in search for the dead persons.

Shortly after, the newly-elected Member of Parliament for Atiwa, Kwesi Amoako Atta, also distanced himself from the allegations that some people died during the election.

This is not the only time that the issue of dead bodies is rearing its head into Ghana’s democracy. In the run-up to the 2000 Parliamentary and Presidential elections, as many as 36 bodies of dead women were scattered at various locations within the Accra Metropolis.

The failure of the Rawlings-led regime to get the perpetrators arrested became a huge campaign message for the then opposition NPP, which eventually collapsed and drowned the NDC campaign as member of the NPP had claimed the serial killings of Ghanaian women were being done by individuals within the NDC for ritual purposes.

The NPP promised to stop the killings when it was elected.

Another claim by the NPP, which again turned out to be a hoax, was a report that one Alhaji Alidu Haruna of the Office of the President, was arrested by police personnel for possessing illegal arms at the barrier on the Anyinam-Kwabeng main road at about 10:00am on Tuesday.

The false report which was published in the Daily Guide Newspaper, quoting New Patriotic Party (NPP) General Secretary, Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie aka Sir John, claimed that Haruna was busted driving a Nissan pickup vehicle with registration number ER 166 09. But Alidu told The Herald that he was in Accra and did not step foot in Atiwa as claimed.