EC officials counting ballot papers
Over the weekend, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) held its presidential primaries across all 15 constituencies in the Upper East Region, as part of a nationwide preparation exercise by the party ahead of the 2020 general elections.
There was no presence of ‘The Hawks’, a vigilante group of the opposition party, as the police were in total control.
DAILY GUIDE can confirm that the NDC had peaceful elections across all the 15 constituencies in the region except widespread allegations of vote-buying levelled against the camp of ex-President John Mahama.
Apart from Mr. Mahama, six other aspirants contested the flagbearership position of the NDC.
The six are Second Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin; Nurudeen Iddrisu; former Boss of the National Health Insurance Scheme, Sylvester Mensah; a former Minister of Communication, Ekow Spio Garbrah; GoosieTanoh and a former Minister and academician, Professor Joshua Alabi.
There were also situations in some constituencies in the region where some agents of some of the aspirants abandoned their posts complaining of hunger and thirst.
DAILY GUIDE can also confirm that there were no signs of members of the Hawks and other internal security groups at any of the polling stations in the region, and it could be due to the warning sent to all regional and constituency executives of the NDC to use only personnel from the Ghana Police Service to protect the polling stations and ballot boxes.
The peaceful nature did not come as a surprise to many onlookers, who claimed there was an obvious winner and the level of competitiveness was low, hence the low tension experienced across the region.
Former President Mahama won in all the 15 constituencies with over 94 per cent across all polling stations.
Upper East Regional Director of Elections Donatus Nyaaba was happy with how the delegates conducted themselves across the 15 constituencies and called on party members to quickly unite again as the party prepares for victory come 2020.