Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com
By William Yaw Owusu
Monday, October 12, 2015
It has emerged that former
President Jerry John Rawlings once wrote to ex-Nigerian President Olusegun
Obasanjo virtually running down former President John Agyekum Kufuor over the voters’
register used in the 2004 general elections.
He claimed the register had been
padded in the strongholds of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
ex-President Rawlings wrote to President
Obasanjo, who was the Africa Union (AU) Chairman at the time and complained
bitterly about how the Kufuor-led NPP government was going to use the register
to shortchange his party, the National Democratic Congress (NDC), which was led
by former President Professor John Evans Atta Mills.
Ex-President Rawlings copied the
said letter, which was written on October 24, 2004, to many world leaders at
the time including Presidents George Bush Jnr and Jimmy Carter both from the
United States.
Interestingly, the opposition NPP
has also been complaining about the current voters’ register and soliciting
international support but the NDC has accused the main opposition party of impugning
the image of Ghana.
Volta and other regions
He specifically said people from
the Volta and the three Northern regions, which were the strongholds of then
opposition NDC, were deliberately being disenfranchised by the Kufuor
government through the compilation of the voters’ register.
He said that 700,000 names of
eligible voters principally in the Volta and Northern Regions had been removed
from the register by President Kufuor deliberately or otherwise.
He also informed the world
leaders that the Kufuor administration was interfering in the work of the
Electoral Commission (EC) and intimidating its officials.
“In the run-up to these
elections, the Government has engaged in various acts that can only derail the
possibility of a free, fair and transparent process of determining the will of
the Ghanaian people,” he claimed.
EC in danger
“There has been interference by
the government with the functions of the National Electoral Commission (NEC) as
well as manipulation and intimidation of a good number of officials of the
Commission which has since its establishment established a reputation for
independent and effective conduct of elections in Ghana. It is now in danger of
becoming a tool of the government in its determination to hang onto power
against the wishes of the people, despite efforts by the Commissioner to
maintain the integrity of the Commission. A clear manifestation of this is in
the conduct of the exercise of voter registration carried out over the last few
months,” he claimed.
“Strenuous efforts have gone into
seeking essentially to disenfranchise large numbers of people in areas known to
be strongholds of the opposition. From the recent exhibition in public of the
Electoral Register - during the period of 12th-17th October 2004 - it has come
to light that approximately 700,000 names of eligible voters principally in the
Volta and Northern Regions of Ghana have been removed either deliberately or in
error.
“On the other hand persons, whose
identity and eligibility to vote have not been certified, are being allowed to
register even though the statutory period for voter registration ended some two
months ago.”
Pious platitudes
He said, “Attempts to draw
attention to these matters have been met with defensive evasions on the part of
the commission and pious platitudes from the government about commitment to
free and fair elections when all the evidence points to the contrary.”
Ex-President Rawlings attached a
press statement issued on July 1, 2004 by then NDC presidential candidate Prof.
Mills and another booklet prepared on September 1, 2004 to diplomatic missions
and election observers to the letter and detailed how the NPP was going to retain
power through the exercise.
Party Police
Ex-President Rawlings also
accused the NPP government of training and arming foreign mercenaries as well
as forming special party police purposely to do the bidding of the government
in the election, saying “in the face of these reports the government and its
security apparatus resort to issuing false alarms about coup plots involving
members of the NDC, particularly myself.”
Media monopoly
He said the NPP government was
“manipulating the minds of the people in relation to positive political exchange,
Ghanaian people- literate, semi-literate and illiterate.”
He also said the NPP government
had created “monopoly and intimidating grip on media exposure in their favour
to the detriment of democracy, justice and free and fair election, and the
rights of all other political parties in the system.”
Vote buying
“Take the pathetic situation of
blatantly and literally misusing and distributing state funds and resources to
all levels of citizens from chiefs down to the ordinary man, to influence votes.
This is a violation and an insult to the intelligence, sensibilities and
sensitivities of people. In short, their survival rests on fast-tracking the
rot of our body-politic and society.
“Members of the incumbent
government have at various times in their careers been involved in governance.
It is most unfortunate that in their present situation, their fear and
reluctance to allow or encourage good governance is at the top of the agenda.
Press, media and Judiciary manipulation is used to cover up amazing levels of
blatant corruption.
“Their very desperate measures to
hold onto power are simply to cover up the serious nature of their crimes and
misdeeds. President Kufuor must be made aware that anything short of free and
fair electoral process can only lead to a derailment of our democracy.”
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