Koku Anyidoho addressing the press
The National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Volta Region has challenged the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) to produce evidence to substantiate its claim that there are over 76,000 foreigners on the electoral roll.
According to a statement signed by Koku Anyidoho, a Deputy General Secretary of the NDC, the NPP’s claim that Togolese voters are on Ghana’s electoral roll as declared by Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, the Vice Presidential Candidate of NPP, is untrue.
Korku Anyidoho threw the challenge in Ho recently when he addressed a press conference which was virtually turned into a mini rally of the party.
Dr. Bawumia on 18th August, 2015 told the press in Accra that an investigation by the party had revealed over 76,000 Togolese nationals on the voters’ register of Ghana, particularly in the Volta region.
The figure, he said, represented less than 10 percent of the total number of foreigners and promised to make similar revelations from Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast.
He claimed that citizens from these countries which shared boundaries with Ghana had crossed the borders to register in order to vote in Ghana’s elections.
His presentation formed the basis for the NPP’s insistence of a new voters’ register.
However, a year after the disclosure, Koku Anyidoho has challenged Dr Bawumia and the NPP to provide the remaining 90 percent of the evidence.
“My brothers and sisters, where is the 90 percent plus that Bawumia promised to produce from Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso and other neighbouring countries?” he quizzed.
He added that Dr. Bawumia and the NPP deceived the Electoral Commission (EC) and also tarnished the image of Voltarians.
Koku claimed that “it is precisely because he has not been able to make good his own promise of producing the extra 90 percent from other countries that makes it very convincing that Bawumia and the NPP deliberately chose Togo in order to paint the Volta Region black.
“Why did he not take advantage of the just-ended voters’ register exhibition exercise to present his evidence to the EC for the said names to be deleted? For sure, Bawumia does not have any evidence to back his false claims.”
From Fred Duodu, Ho (freduoo@gmail.com)