Accra, June 28, 2016 – A national vice-chairman of the National Democratic Congress Alhaji Said Sinare has described as dangerous and mischievous the comments made by Kennedy Agyepong, the NPP MP for Assin Central to the effect that "if indeed Nana Addo wins according to the pink sheets and Charlotte Osei dares to rig the elections by twisting our arms in favour of the NDC, we will not allow it to happen in Ghana." He said such comments at this stage in our democratic dispensation are very dangerous and totally unnecessary especially coming from a man supposed to understand the way elections are won and lost in this country.



Ambassador Sinare, who is also the Ambassador of Ghana to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Countries, said Kennedy Agyepong, and to a large extent the NPP, must know that no one can win an election at the offices of the Electoral Commission. He said that the nature of our electoral process is so transparent, free and fair to the extent that all contesting political parties have representation at the polling station to check and ensure that voting is carried out in a manner acceptable to all political players. Ambassador Sinare added that even before the ballots are transferred to the constituency and regional coalition centres, all party agents are given the opportunity to verify results and append their signatures to same before the votes are transferred. He is therefore surprised and scandalized how anybody will even harbor the thought of assuming that the boss of the EC can manipulate the results in favour of any party at the comfort of her office in Accra. "This has never happened, and will never happen in our democratic experiment. To make such an unnecessary comment goes to show the level of ignorance of our electoral process by the largest opposition party in Ghana. It is sad, and shocking that prominent members of the opposition NPP still believe that any party, or for that matter the NDC can only win a general election with the support of the EC. This view held by Kennedy Agyepong and the members of the NPP is a sad reality of the state of affairs in the NPP," he added.

According to the Ambassador, the NDC as a grassroots political movement has always and will always win elections at the polling station. He said for the NPP to even make the allusion that the chairperson of the EC is in any way, shape or form biased towards the NDC, is a calculated attempt to prepare the minds of their support base to reject the results of the upcoming polls if it does not favour them. He called on Ghanaians and the international community to condemn such mischievous and divisive comments and statements from political parties that seek to undermine the outcome of the November polls.

In a related development, Ambassador Sinare has joined the many Ghanaians who have condemned the Assin Central legislator for the personal attacks on the Electoral Commissioner, Madam Charlotte Osei. He calls on all well meaning Ghanaians, especially the moral voices of this country to add their voices in condemning such misogynistic comments that seeks to undermine the work of not only Madam Osei, but also other equally qualified and competent Ghanaian women who are serving this nation in various public offices. He called on Mr Agyepong to issue an unqualified apology to both Madam Charlotte Osei and the Electoral Commission.



---- Signed -----

Mahmoud Jajah
Special Assistant to Ambassador Sinare
mails@mahmoudjajah.com
Accra