Date Printed: 11/03/2008 JTS Box Number: IFES 4 Tab Number: 26 Document Title: Supporting the Electoral Process in Ghana, Results of the 1996 Presidential Document Date: 1996 Document Country: Ghana IFES 10: R01618 1m 11m *79649E~ II~ , ' .. F/L£5 AfR. G-4 b. ~Supporting The Electoral Process l=FE5IU~AI'D flO, ( In• Ghana "..:--___ 5'lA.b Results of the 1996 Presidential and Parliamentary Elections 7 December 1996 Ghana ~I The Int~rnational Foundation for Election Systems (IFES) funded under a Cooperative Agreement from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) 'COt-?'- THE GREAT ALLIANCE (GHANA) U.S. & Canadian Branch: P.O. Box 441 Bowling Green Station New York, N.Y. 10270-0441 Tel. No. 1-908-679-6514 Fax: 1-718-735-8643 B.p . yiN January 7, 1996 In the run-up to the December 7, 1996 general elections in Ghana, we were constrained to issue an urgent appeal to the World Bank, the IMP, US AID and other foreign creditors of Ghana calling for free, fair and transparent elections. Our main concern was with the health and well-being of our fledgling democracy, peace and orderly development of our nation. In that regard, we observe with pride that Ghanaians turned out in their numbers to carry out their civic responsibilities in peace and orderliness as they have always done since before independence. We wish to extend our hearty congratulations to the good people of Ghana for the level of political maturity and civility exhibited. However. the best efforts put forth by the general electorate was seriously marred by a host of irregularities, infractions, intimidation and fraud perpetrated by agents of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) government. in many instances. with the active connivance of the Electoral Commission. At the very outset, we make bold to state categorically that we reject outright the proclamation by the international observers that the December 7 elections in Ghana were "free. fair and transparent." We are convinced that with the number of irregularities and infractions which we have itemized below. no one in his or her right senses would honestly declare, or for that matter accept any such election as "free, fair and transparent." We know that if these numerous acts of misconduct. fraud and vote rigging were to occur anywhere in the Western world. there would undoubtedly be a loud clamor for declaring the elections null and void. It is our view that in this age of cyber-space. the CNN and Internet, Ghanaians in particular and Africans in general cannot and must not accept anything less. Those who assert their readiness to ''trade peace for the injustice" are nothing more than capituiationists and collaborators with the enemies of Africa. After 40 years of independence we are no doubt capable of organizing a genuinely free. fair and tranSparent election such as the ones held in Ghana on June 18 and July 9. 1979 where the temptation of an incumbent forcing or bending the rules to his advantage did not exist We are aware that some may also be tempted to question why even after the leadership of the Great Alliance had grudgingly conceded defeat. we here in North America have persisted in what we consider to be a moral crusade aimed at righting the wrongs brought into the open by both the covert and overt collusion between the NDC regime and the National Electoral Commission (NEC)? Herewith are our concrete reasons: 1.) On the day of elections. the NEC with the active connivance of the NDC regime authorized the issuing of voter identity cards solely to persons introduced by NDC agents. This exercise was never made known by the Electoral Commissioner to the other parties and was c.onducted in secret locations across the country. e.g. Dunia Cinema in Ayawaso Constituency (Greater Accra) and Berekum (Brong-Ahafo) where the perpetrators were actually apprehended. So far there has been no prosecution of the culprits. 2.) Would-be voters reported at some polling stations with strange voter ID cards. 3.) In the regional capitals. some NDC supporters attempted - and others actually succeeded - to cast their votes illegally with ID cards which had no pictures. as required by law. 4.) There were dubious transfer list of voters in the hands of NDC agents which were unsigned by the Electoral Commissioner. 5.) Alleged eligibility of voters whose names did not appear on the registration list but who had voter ID cards. 2 6.) Pre-election reports of ID card buying by NDC operatives from bonafide voters went uninvestigated. 7.) Numerous cases of under-age voters (between 10 and 17 years) especially in Volta, Brong-Ahafo, Upper East and Upper West regions where the NDC reportedly recorded the heaviest votes. 8.) Reported shortages of ballot papers and indelible ink at several polling stations or as early as 11:00 am while at others, polling agents substituted other kinds of ink that easily washed away. 9.) Numerous documented cases of intimidation and harassment of opposition party agents in many polling stations especially in Volta, Brong-Ahafo, Upper East and Upper West regions by armed militiamen with the result that in numerous cases, the voting returns were not signed by the accredited agents of the opposition parties. Yet the Electoral Commission saw it fit to accept those results as genuine. 10.) Alteration of voting results at polling stations to favor the NDC and its flag-bearer ex-Fl LL U. Rawlings. The example of the Auakwa Constituency where it took the exchange of gun-shots and the vigilance of the Great Alliance supporters to prevent a similar travesty and ensure the election of the people's choice in the person of Nana Akuffo Addo. Il.) There are also several examples of glaringly falsified results e.g. in Bimbila Constituency where the PNC candidate won the Parliamentary election with 13,796 votes against the NDC candidate Thn Chambas who placed third with 7,488 votes. Strangely the NDC Presidential candidate was said to have polled 14,462 as against 6,284 votes for the PNC Presidential candidate in the same constituency. 12.) At Sefwi Wiawso in Western Region total votes cast in Parliamentary election came up to about 43,000 while total votes for the Presidential race was put at over 55,000 votes - a whooping 12,000 votes overlap. This discrepancy shows that the NDC Presidential candidate alone polled 3 over 44,000 votes ie. over 1,000 votes more than the total· votes cat in the Parliamentary. This is blatantly unreal. 13.) Open bribery of the electorate in all the regions but more so in the Upper East, Upper West, Central, Brong-Ahafo and Northern Ghana. Even though these corrupt and criminal practices were adequately reported in the local press, neither the Electoral Commissioner nor the Inspector General of Police (IGP) made any serious efforts to bring the perpetrators to book since invariably they were agents of the incumbent regime. 14.) The newly appointed IGP, Peter Nanfuri (expected to be non-partisan) was reported to have exhorted police officers in Koforidua. Eastern region to vote for J.J. Rawlings and the NDC party because he (IGP) had already discussed with the incumbent President the need to do something about the conditions of service for the police. The Electoral Commissioner did not issue any reprimand for this gross violation of the code of conduct. Wherein lies the fairness? 15.) Then there was the seriously biased coverage of the entire electioneering campaign by the state­ owned GTV, radio and print media which, as in the case in 1992, were all pressed into service for the undue advantage of the incumbents. The crowning event in the chain of unfair coverage came at the II th hour in the form of the address to the nation by one of the contestants. J.J. Rawlings who used the occasion to appeal for votes, while a similar request was denied to the other two contestants for the Presidency. Would that kind of situation be accepted as fair in any true democracy especially when that same favored candidate had rejected repeated calls and public opinion for an open debate with the other contestants on the same state-owned television and radio? 16.) Reports of non-Ghanaians being helped by NDC agents to cross the borders in the Volta, Upper East, Upper West and Brong-Ahafo regions to cast votes illegally for a fee were all ignored by 4 law enforcement agencies headed by the IGP recently appointed by 1.1. Rawlings. These allegations constitute the basis of some of the cases currently pending before the courts in Ghana. Examples are Bawku and Navrongo. 17.) The most serious infractions occurred during the 72 hours immediately following the close of the polls at which time the international observers had already made their pronouncements on the "free, fair and transparent" elections. During this period. the Electoral Commissioner imposed an artificial freeze on the results without explanation. When fmally the results began to be released. this was done piece-meal and in a manner that the Electoral Commissioner later intimated was meant "to prevent the people from getting excited". whatever that means. lB.) Then again. without any provocation whatsoever or any acts of civil disobedience from the opposition parties. armed soldiers were deployed in the streets and sent ostensibly to protect the headquarters of the Electoral Commissioner and the NDC Party - clearly the actions of guilty minds. 19.) Above all the absolute lack of fairness and transparency in the December 7. 1996 elections was manifested in the total absence of rules governing campaign financing.