No. 1! President Akufo-Addo and No.2! John Mahama
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) presidential candidate, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, will be number one on the ballot in the December 7 polls.
The number two position was picked by the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) candidate, John Dramani Mahama.
The picking of positions was done yesterday evening at the Electoral Commission (EC) headquarters in Accra.
The two-tier process was not without controversy as Peter Boamah Otukunor, Deputy General Secretary of the NDC, who represented the main opposition party, raised issues with the procedure; his voice assuming a high decibel.
He said the process did not satisfy the randomisation principle although that has been the same procedure used by the EC in previous elections.
Little wonder the EC overruled his concern and the process proceeded uneventfully. Party representatives picked ballots to determine the order in which the choice of the real positions was going to be done as the first-tier procedure.
Having done that, the order of picking was read out to the representatives.
Following that came the moment of anxiety as the chosen papers were read out.
The NPP’s Director of Elections, Evans Nimako, picked the number one position and handed it to NPP General Secretary John Boadu.
He had initially vacillated when as he went to the bowl he shook the bowl containing the papers, hesitated and eventually picked. He could be heaving a sigh of relief that he got what he wanted—the number one slot.
The initial numbers determining the order of picking which put the NPP at number four as part of the first tier was quickly misunderstood by watchers of the proceedings on TV.
Some posted number four for the NPP, which for them corresponds with the NPP’s ‘Four More Four Nana’ but that was not to be.
When the number one position was eventually picked, the choice resonated on social media and among party faithful as they exchanged a quickly coined ‘Esoro ho’ mantra, to wit, on top in Akan.
The election which brought John Agyekum Kufuor to power in 2000 had the NPP at the bottom and party strategists coined ‘Asie ho’, to wit, the bottom.
Many are of the view that the order in which party names are placed on the ballot paper can determine the success of campaign strategies for especially those who are unable to read.
The other parties followed in this order: GUM No. 3, CPP 4, GFP 5, GCPP 6, APC 7, LPG 8, PNC 9, PPP 10 and NDP 11. The independent candidate, Alfred Kwame Asiedu Walker, automatically becomes the 12th candidate on the ballot paper for on December 7.
Setting the process
The Deputy Chairman of the EC in charge of Operations, Samuel Tettey, who supervised balloting, said the presidential balloting will hold for the parliamentary candidates in the order of placement on the ballot.
He said having completed with the presidential balloting, EC’s next major assignment will be the printing of the presidential and parliamentary ballot papers, which the political parties will be fully involved.
He said the EC will officially communicate to the various political parties about the names of the printing presses and the need to nominate their agents to these printing houses to monitor the whole process.
No Manipulation
In announcing the candidates on Monday, the Chairperson of the EC, Mrs. Jean Mensa, reiterated that neither she nor anybody at the Commission has the power to determine who wins an election and has therefore asked naysayers to cease attacks on her and the commission.
“We do not have the power to determine who wins the elections. It is not in our power or control to determine the outcome of the election. That power lies with the good people of our dear country. The citizens and the citizens alone can determine who should lead them – not the Electoral Commission,” she said.
She said, “It is the candidate who is given power to lead this country by the citizens who will be declared president of the Republic of Ghana by the Electoral Commission come the 7th of December, 2020” adding, “Thankfully, the Electoral Commission has institutionalised a fair, open, transparent and accountable process to guide the declaration of the results.”
She said that the EC at every step towards the December 7 general election has explained their plans and added that they are determined to ensure a transparent process, saying, “If for nothing at all, the current Commission has opened up all its processes to the public and removed the cloaks of secrecy that shrouded its activities and operations. We have laid bare our processes for all to see.”
She added that “as referees, our role is to arrange and organise orderly, fair, transparent, peaceful and credible election. We assure you that we are working to do just that. We entreat the naysayers to cease their onslaught of trying to discredit a thorough and credible electoral process and a commission which has been open and transparent in all its dealings.”
By Thomas Fosu Jnr.