No Winner Yet (Front Page)

December 31, 2008
Tain, a constituency in the Brong-Ahafo Region with 56,000 registered voters, is now the battleground where the close presidential race between Professor John Evans Atta Mills and Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo will finally be decided on Friday.
A calm and relaxed Dr Kwadwo Afari-Gyan, the Chairman of the Electoral Commission (EC), made the announcement yesterday, indicating that in last Sunday’s run-off between the two, Professor Mills had 50.13 per cent of the votes, as against Nana Akufo-Addo’s 49.87 per cent.
The announcement defused the nation-wide tension that had followed Sunday’s run-off and signalled that for the third time the EC would attempt to pick the winner in a presidential election which began on December 7, 2008.
Although the National Democratic Congress’s (NDC’s) Prof Mills came first with 4,501,466 votes, as against the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP’s) Nana Akufo-Addo’s 4,478,411 after the re-run which took place on December 28, Dr Afari-Gyan declined to name a winner as a result of the outstanding election in Tain where voting in the run-off could not be held in all the 144 polling stations because of a pending protest.
Explaining why voting in Tain could not take place last Sunday, an official of the EC told the Daily Graphic in Sunyani that the situation was occasioned by a protest from representatives of the NPP in the constituency to the effect that the regional office of the EC had not supplied the required number of booklets for voting.
They alleged further that the EC officials had hidden some of the ballot booklets for no apparent reason, a claim the EC officials vehemently denied and insisted that there was no shortage of the ballot papers.
The EC Chairman described the circumstances as being beyond the control of the commission and scheduled voting there for Friday, January 2, 2009.
The results he announced, therefore, came from 229 out of the 230 constituencies throughout the country.
Giving the reasons the commission could not announce a winner at a press conference held in Accra, Dr Afari-Gyan said because of the closeness of the results, it was necessary for the EC to conduct the election in Tain, since results from there could make a difference.
The EC Chairman also indicated that the commission was going to conduct investigations into allegations of electoral irregularities in Kumasi, in particular, and some parts of the Ashanti Region, as well as the Volta Region, saying that both the NDC and the NPP had made some allegations against each other.
He said the NDC, for its part, had produced evidence on the alleged irregularities but the EC was yet to receive any evidence from the ruling party.
Earlier, before the announcement of the results, media personnel from all walks of life had waited for more than four hours for the arrival of the Chairman of the EC.
On many occasions during the waiting period some police officers came round to do some recce where the chairman and the other commissioners would sit and on each occasion their presence drew the media personnel back to the hall.
Yesterday’s announcement has made Tain the ‘king maker’ of the next administration.
In the December 7 presidential election in the constituency, Prof Mills polled 16,211 votes, representing 50.75 per cent, as against Nana Akufo-Addo’s 14,935, which represented 46.75 per cent.
Speaking to the media shortly after the announcement, the Chairman of the NPP, Mr Peter Mac Manu, said the people of Tain should not be disenfranchised in the election but should be allowed to cast their ballots to determine who won the presidency.
“In elections, anything can happen and we all have to wait for Friday, which is just around the corner, for the people of Tain to exercise their franchise to decide the winner,” he added.
Mr Mac Manu said the NPP would be more than prepared to concede defeat to the NDC should the results go in favour of the NDC.
However, he added that the NPP was highly optimistic of a massive victory in Tain to turn the table in its favour.
On whether the NPP was going to produce evidence of allegations of malpractice against the NDC in the Volta Region, he said, “We are going to compile the evidence to present to the EC as soon as possible.”
Leading members of the NDC, including Dr Tony Aidoo, Alhaji Huudu Yahaya, among others, left the hall before the announcement was made.