The ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) has accused the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) of plotting to rig the presidential and parliamentary elections in the Volta Region scheduled for today December 7, 2024.
The NPP based their allegation on the recent arrest of the NDC’s Akatsi North Constituency Secretary, Abraham Ahiabu, for possession of alleged dummy ballot papers.
A statement from the Ghana Immigration Service, dated 5th December, revealed that the suspect was arrested at Hevi in the Akatsi North District while en route to Vodome in Togo. He was found in possession of three booklets of dummy ballot papers, each containing 1,000 dummy ballots.
He has since been handed over to the police for further investigation.
Meanwhile, at a news conference on Thursday, 6th December 2024, the Director of Communication for the NPP’s presidential candidate, Miracles Aboagye, expressed deep concern over the situation.
He questioned:
Worrying in a sense that the few questions that needs to be answered with with this, this, this, this incident. First of all, why would an NDC constituency secretary, have in his possession so much ballot papers in the first place? What's the intention? Especially on the eve of elections? We are voting two, three days to elections. Why are you holding so much ballot papers under the guys that you're going to use a voter education? Secondly, why was he transporting these ballot papers from Ghana into Togo?
In his address, Aboagye also cited the questioning of the Afadjato South District Electoral Commission officer for a protocol breach in transporting election materials without police escort. In a statement, the Commission confirmed the incident but assured the public that it would not compromise the election's integrity.
Miracles Aboagye argued that the situation raises significant concerns:
It's quite worrying that these things seems to be happening a lot more in the Volta region, the NDC stronghold.
He, therefore, called on the Electoral Commission, the Ghana Police Service, and the Ghana Immigration Service to increase vigilance to safeguard the election's integrity.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of the Interior has announced a temporary closure of all land borders. In a brief statement on Thursday, 8th December, the sector Minister, Henry Quartey, indicated that the measure is intended to safeguard the integrity of the 7th December election.
The directive takes immediate effect from Friday, 6th December 2024, and will remain in place until 6:00 pm on Sunday, 8th December 2024.
