2020 polls: Army presence at polling centres forced EC to fudge results – Mahama
The deployment of soldiers to some polling stations during the 2020 general elections compelled the Electoral Commission to declare the results in favour of President Nana Akufo-Addo and the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), former President John Mahama has said.
The 2020 flag bearer of the main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), told Global FM in Ho, Volta Region, during his Thank You tour that: “But for a lot of scheming that took place, the NDC would have won the election”.
“I do believe that we did win but a lot of things went untoward and so even though power did not come into our hands, it does not mean we do not have the prospects of winning”, he said.https://googleads.g.doubleclick.net/pagead/ads?client=ca-pub-6034552436546687&output=html&h=280&slotname=6518230833&adk=1047488890&adf=2402057214&pi=t.ma~as.6518230833&w=750&fwrn=4&fwrnh=100&lmt=1634572616&rafmt=1&psa=1&format=750×280&url=https%3A%2F%2Fcitinewsroom.com%2F2021%2F10%2Fsoldiers-forced-ec-to-declare-results-in-npps-favour-mahama%2F&flash=0&fwr=0&fwrattr=true&rpe=1&resp_fmts=3&wgl=1&uach=WyJXaW5kb3dzIiwiMTAuMCIsIng4NiIsIiIsIjkyLjAuNDUxNS4xMzEiLFtdLG51bGwsbnVsbCxudWxsXQ..&tt_state=W3siaXNzdWVyT3JpZ2luIjoiaHR0cHM6Ly9hdHRlc3RhdGlvbi5hbmRyb2lkLmNvbSIsInN0YXRlIjo3fV0.&dt=1634572616347&bpp=3&bdt=1544&idt=290&shv=r20211013&mjsv=m202110130101&ptt=9&saldr=aa&abxe=1&cookie=ID%3D0ed28c2aab8f43c7-2261dedd54a6005a%3AT%3D1603470914%3ART%3D1603470914%3AS%3DALNI_MbfxkweafCKR0ptRKCqZzCPNlsQog&prev_fmts=0x0%2C1200x280&nras=1&correlator=269510834404&frm=20&pv=1&ga_vid=705672373.1602581775&ga_sid=1634572617&ga_hid=964733407&ga_fc=0&u_tz=0&u_his=18&u_h=768&u_w=1366&u_ah=728&u_aw=1366&u_cd=24&dmc=4&adx=105&ady=1547&biw=1349&bih=657&scr_x=0&scr_y=0&eid=44750344%2C31062945%2C31063157%2C31062526%2C31063127%2C21067496&oid=2&pvsid=3155279488115683&pem=421&ref=https%3A%2F%2Fcitinewsroom.com%2F&eae=0&fc=1920&brdim=0%2C0%2C0%2C0%2C1366%2C0%2C1366%2C728%2C1366%2C657&vis=1&rsz=%7C%7CoeEbr%7C&abl=CS&pfx=0&fu=128&bc=31&ifi=3&uci=a!3&btvi=1&fsb=1&xpc=8ztJ2uKVJC&p=https%3A//citinewsroom.com&dtd=298 According to him, “we won the majority in parliament but you saw what happened on the day: many of the polling centres injected soldiers and forced the electoral officers to pronounce results that were not real.”
During the same interview, Mr Mahama said the violence that erupted during the Ayawaso West Wuogon by-election on 31 January 2019 and was described by some leaders of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) as a “dress rehearsal” for the 2020 polls, is what led to the death of eight people during last year’s presidential and parliamentary elections.
He said the Akufo-Addo government has warped democracy so much that it is trickling down to the local level.
“I was looking at something this morning [about the] Municipal Chief Executive [nominee] for Cape Coast, and they said 77 votes out of 63 [were cast]. The people there assembled were 63 and then somebody was saying that some people took some of the ballot papers and run away with them. I mean, what kind of democracy is NPP fostering in this country?” Mr Mahama wondered.
He observed: “And when you listen to people like Lord Commey and things, it’s about power. It’s not about the welfare of the people. It’s not about the will of the people”.
Mr Mahama quoted the Director of Operations at the presidency as having said: ‘If you get power, you shouldn’t hand it over to anybody’.
