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Petitioners Accuse EC Of Forging List Of Foreign Voters
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- Category: Elections & Governance
- Created on Friday, 12 April 2013 00:00
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Petitioners Accuse EC Of Forging List Of Foreign Voters
The list of the 705 voters submitted by the Electoral commission as being names of Ghanaians registered in various diplomatic missions abroad to vote in the December 2012 polls, “was actually forged and contained several instances of multiple names and fake identities.”
This revelation is contained in the main affidavit of the petitioners in the presidential election petition challenging the outcome of the December polls as declared by the Electoral Commission.
{sidebar id=12 align=right}On Sunday the petitioners filed their affidavits with supporting evidence to enable the hearing of the case to begin on April 16th. According to their affidavit filed by Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, the 2nd petitioner, the list of 705 names from various diplomatic missions abroad furnished by the EC (2nd respondent) contained “51 instances of repeated names to a total of 102.”
Furthermore, many of the names supplied by the EC cannot be found in the general voters’ register presented to political parties before the election. The affidavit says, “that the scrutiny of some of the voter ID numbers supposedly belonging to some of these foreign registered voters could not be found on the general voters register, that is to say, they were/are fake identities.”
Again, the Supreme Court, in response to interrogatories the petitioners served on the 2nd Respondent, had ordered the EC to supply the names and other details of the people it claimed it registered abroad, namely Ghanaians working in our foreign missions, Ghanaians working in certain international organizations, Ghanaians students on government scholarships abroad and soldiers returning homes from peace-keeping missions abroad.
That list, according to the EC’s own earlier answer to the petition, should have been 241,524. However, the EC was able to supply the court with a total list of only 2,883, including the security service personnel returning home.
Dr Bawumia’s affidavit gives clear details of the forgery the petitioners claim to have discovered on the list supplied.
The affidavit reads, “in the list of 705 names from various diplomatic missions abroad furnished by 2nd Respondent in response to interrogatories the Petitioners served on the 2nd Respondent, there were 51 instances of repeated names to a total of 102. In all these instances but one, the two ‘identities’ had the same name, same age, same gender, same location, same assigned polling station but different voter ID numbers. In one instance the name Abudulai Enusah Jamila, a 22-year old, also with New York as location, and a male is found alongside the name Abudali Enusah Jamila, 22-year old, also with New York location but a female. The two were assigned the same polling station but with different voter ID numbers.”
The petitioners continue, “These fake ID numbers for the multiple names also had a unique pattern. For most of them, the pattern was to add "1" to, or subtract "1" from, the 5th digit of the ID number and subtract ‘2’ from the last digit.”
The affidavit gives details of this, “For example one Abudul-Mumin Bashiru (No. 159 on the list) was given a voter ID number of 1852801842. This same name appeared as number 572 on the list, this time, however, with a completely different voter ID number, 1852901840.”
The affidavit also highlights what appears to be a deliberate attempt by the EC to hide the double entries in the 705 list by spreading the duplicate names.
The petitioners say in their affidavit, “For instance, one Abdul Bassit Ibrahim was placed 11th on the list, while the same name, Abdul Bassit Ibrahim is placed 465th on the list. Similarly, while one Paul Yaw Essel was placed at No. 338 another Paul Yaw Essel was at No. 603. ”
The issue of foreign voters in the election, which has already raised a lot of doubt about the EC’s credibility, was introduced into the fray when in response to the petitioners, the EC attributed an increase of the voters’ register by 241,524 to voters it claims to have registered abroad.
It is recalled that in paragraph 6 of the EC’s original response, it stated “In answer to paragraph 12 of the Petition, the 2nd Respondent says that the initial provisional figure it announced of registered voters was 13,917,366. After the conduct of registration of Foreign Service officials, students abroad on government scholarship, other Ghanaians working abroad in International organizations and the late registration of service personnel returning from international peacekeeping duties, it announced a figure of 14, 158,890”
This response from Ghana’s electoral body prompted the petitioners in the case to file an interlocutory demanding the EC to produce the list of the supposed 241,524 Ghanaians it registered abroad for the 2012 General elections.
However, the EC in responding to the order of the Supreme Court only produced a list of 705 Ghanaians it claims to have registered in various locations abroad.
Source: thestatesmanonline.com
No commentsWTO Boss: Alan Kyeremateng Loses Out
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- Category: Business & Finance
- Created on Friday, 12 April 2013 00:00
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WTO Boss: Alan Kyeremateng Loses Out
A former Minister of Trade, Industry and Presidential Special Initiatives, Alan Kyeremanteng has lost out in his quest to become the next World Trade Organisation (WTO) Director General.
This was after he failed to sail through the first round of the selection process for the top job at the World Trade Organization.
According to the Reuters News Agency, the council has shortlisted, candidates from Brazil - Roberto Azevedo, Taeho Bark of South Korea, Herminio Blanco from Mexico, Mari Pangestu of Indonesia and Tim Groser of New Zealand.
{sidebar id=10 align=right}The Reuters News Agency quotes a diplomatic source saying that, representatives of the candidates were summoned to hear the results of the first round at a closed-door meeting in the WTO's Geneva headquarters Thursday.
The Organization is expected to officially announce its results later Friday. The field of candidates to lead the World Trade Organization shrank to five and narrowed the race to two regions, triggering a potential scramble for Africa's support after the first of three rounds of competition.
Representatives of the candidates were summoned to hear the results of the first round at a closed-door meeting in the WTO's Geneva headquarters.
The "troika" of three WTO ambassadors presiding over the race plan to make the results public on Friday, and give a timetable for the second round, which is expected to boil the field down to a final duel, whose winner will succeed Pascal Lamy as head of the WTO on Sept 1 this year.
Some trade diplomats say the job is a poisoned chalice because it comes with little power to direct the WTO, a body that is run by consensus decisions of its 159 members and which is presiding over a huge slowdown in world trade and struggling to negotiate reforms in global trade rules.
However, the position is coveted because the WTO's unusual system of treaty-based rules and dispute settlement makes it an arbiter among nations and an influential world body alongside the International Monetary Fund and World Bank.
Geneva-based diplomats have said the nine-strong race made it impossible to predict the eventual winner, especially since many governments are thought to favour candidates from particular regions.
Before the six-month process began in earnest in December, some diplomats maintained that the next head of the organisation must come from Africa or Latin America. Pascal Lamy rejected that idea, saying there was no geographical basis for the choice.
But the departure of Kenya's Amina Mohamed and Ghana's Alan Kyerematen means that African support is likely to become an important battleground for the remaining candidates.
The exit of Costa Rica's Anabel Gonzalez means the two remaining Latin Americans will have to struggle for supremacy, since it is unlikely that both will survive into the final round.
The other candidate to be dropped, Jordan's Ahmed Hindawi, was the first candidate from an Arab nation in the WTO's 18 year history.
The draw may now favour Pangestu, who would be the first woman to lead the WTO, and Groser, who survived despite the fact that a New Zealander has held the job once before, something that was seen as counting against him.
But the WTO's insistence on consensus means that any one member's strong dislike can essentially be used as a veto, leaving the final outcome uncertain.
Source: Reuters News Agency/myjoyonline.com
Mahama's latest appointments attract mixed reactions
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- Category: Elections & Governance
- Created on Wednesday, 27 March 2013 00:00
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Mahama's latest appointments attract mixed reactions
Public reactions to the deputy ministerial appointments by President John Mahama are mixed. The President’s list of 26 deputy ministerial nominees has raised some eye brows, but others, however, are happy with them.
The Energy & Petroleum, Food & Agric, Education, Information and Gender, Children & Social Protection ministries each have two deputy ministerial appointments. The concern for many has been whether there’s need for two deputies for these ministries.
But speaking on JOY FM’s Super Morning Show Wednesday, Dr. Mawai Zakaria, a development and organisation policy analyst stated that the concern should not be about the numbers, instead on the contents of the policies nominees have been tasked to manage as well as the strategic direction of the relevant ministry.
According to him, “if you take the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection, you realise that generically it has two legs: Gender and Children as one leg and Social Protection as a major leg of the ministry. In designing an implementation strategy, you need personalities to be able focus on these two legs at the implementation level”.
He explained that the substantive minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection will focus on the overall policy direction while the deputies focus solely on the two sections.
On the agric ministry, he stated that the two main strands (crop and livestock) needed personalities who will focus on implementing policies relevant to the two strands.
Dr. Mawai Zakaria said in theory, there are divisions in the Energy and Petroleum Ministry even though the two areas of focus of the ministry have not been split. He was of the view that there was need for a person with the capacity to concentrate on petroleum (oil and gas) and another solely on energy.
Dr Zakaria said it will be difficult to ascertain whether the nominees have the capacity to undertake the tasks assigned them without access to their CV’s or a chance for them to demonstrate their capabilities during vetting.
But Mr. Franklin Cudjoe, Founding President of IMANI Ghana said the appointments were largely influenced by partisan political factors instead of the capabilities of nominees.
“The list doesn't appear to me like that of a 21st century advancing country”.
His view is that if the nominees have been assigned to the relevant ministries to learn on the job, that may not be a good thing because there is no time for that.
From:George Nyavor/Myjoyonline.com
The Noah's Ark and the Evolutionary Science
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- Category: Religion
- Created on Friday, 29 March 2013 00:00
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The Noah's Ark and the Evolutionary Science
A Review of the Power of God and the Ancient Kingdom of Babylon
The Samaritan Research Group
Nana Is The Original Asomdweehene …Says Methodist Bishop
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- Category: Politics
- Created on Tuesday, 26 March 2013 00:00
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Nana Is The Original Asomdweehene …Says Methodist Bishop
The Methodist Bishop of the Obuasi Diocese, Rt. Rev. Stephen Richard Bosomtwi-Ayensu has attributed the current peace being enjoyed in the country to the decision by the flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the 2012 presidential elections, Nana Addo Dankwah Akufo-Addo to resort to court.
He explained that the outcome of the 2008 and 2012 general elections could have plunged the country into unceasing political violence but for the patriotic stance taken by the NPP flagbearer.
Speaking at the inauguration of the Brahabebome circuit of the church at Obuasi yesterday, the Methodist Bishop stressed: “we are not doing politics here, but if there is any title that best describes Nana Addo Danquah Akufo Addo, then this man must be called the better and original Asomdweehene”
The Methodist Bishop who was delivering a sermon on the need for Ghanaians to resort to dialogue at all times and called for prayers for Nana Addo, adding “wherever this man is, we greet him and we will pray for him”.
He added that countries like Kenya and Cote d’voire went through war by the same electoral disputes and that if Ghana had been spared similar ordeal, then it means Nana Akufo-Addo had contributed significantly in promoting the peace being enjoyed now in Ghana.
It would be recalled that the New Patriotic Party (NPP), led by Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, Dr. Bawumia and Jake Obetsebi Lamptey in the aftermath of the 2012 presidential elections, petitioned the Supreme Court to challenge the validity of John Dramani Mahama as president of Ghana.
In the opinion of the NPP, the election results were rigged in favour of the incumbent, President John Mahama, who they claim colluded with EC officials to manipulate the results.
The Methodist Bishop of the Obuasi Diocese, Rt. Rev. Stephen Richard Bosomtwi-Ayensu challenged leaders of the Brahabebome circuit, which is the 16th in the Diocese to work with dedication to ensure the growth of the church.
Source: The Chronicle