Season's greetings from @penplusbytes

 

 

A Social Media Tracking Centre (STMC) that will monitor the use of social media during Ghana's 2012 elections has been set up.

 

The centre will provide a real time response mechanism on election irregularities, violence and other concerns by reaching out to key election stakeholders for immediate action.

The aim is to monitor all social media platforms during the elections to afford civil society, state authorities and development partners the opportunity to know in real time public opinions, sentiments and attitudes relayed through different social media platforms in order for relevant actions to be taken.

The African Election Project, in collaboration with the Georgia Institute of Technology, Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology (MEST) and EnoughisEnough (EiE) with support from the United Kindom's Department for International Development (DFID) is Social Media Tracking Centre (STMC).

According to Mr. Michael Ohene-Effah, Governance Advisor at DFID, "Ghana DFID welcomes and supports this ground-breaking social media tracking centre initiative.

Although there are several media monitoring activities in the mainstream media surrounding Ghana's 2012 elections, there is currently only a handful and often inefficient manual tracking of elections trends taking place in the growing social media environment.

Social Media Tracking Centre (SMTC), comes at an opportune time, since there is ample evidence pointing to lack of efficient social media monitoring capability among key actors covering Ghana's 2012 elections.

Mr Jerry Sam, Project Manager of African Elections Project, explained that the real-time data capturing ability of the SMTC will allow for up-to-the moment incidents taking place in different areas around the country, to be collated, analysed and transmitted as alerts and to relevant elections stakeholders such  as the  National Elections Security Task Force (NESTF),  civil society actors, the media and Electoral Commission, among others for necessary action to be taken.

He said it was expected that monitoring social media powered by SMTC will provide valuable feedback and focus on how alerts coming out of the SMTC will serve as early warning mechanism thereby contributing significant  reduction of electoral violence while at the same time ensuring transparent and free elections.

Mr Sam said the African Elections Project was established in 2008, with the vision of enhancing the ability of journalists, citizen journalists and the news media to provide more timely and relevant election information and knowledge while undertaking monitoring of specific and important aspects of governance.

http://graphic.com.gh/Politics/centre-to-monitor-2012-elections-on-social-media.html

Ghana Elections 2012 : The C-Section of Mama Ghana and the ECs PR department

 

Just look at her! She is so gorgeous, Mama Ghana, that is! When she lays down to rest, she looks like a cat, asleep in foetal position. She doesn't look like a Mama that can hurt a fly! But in standing position, Mama Ghana looks stocky and robust as if she is about to squat. I urge you to spend some time to look closely at the map of Ghana. She looks really fascinating.

Ghana is shaped like someone who is spotting a little pot-belly from eating a combination of lots of fufu, garri, akple, banku. Or, she may just be pregnant with deep thoughts and unfulfilled dreams. Someday, Ghana will rise, stretching out its thickset body. Even now, she is the Black Star that shines! Wait till the day when she truly rises and stretches out her stout body mass.

But since last week Friday when voting began, we have heard the throbbingheartbeats of Mama Ghana. She is huffing and puffing. Clearly, this must be labour pains. Oh, she is having a caesarean section! Her doctor just cut through her protruding belly! See, a baby has been yanked out of her but the doctor has not done a good job with cleaning up after delivery. Hmm, it seems like she was all along pregnant with twins but the doctor, although has several years of experience, didn't feel the twins! So when the first baby arrived, the doctor gave him the usual bottom spanking; the baby shrieked, and viola, he was welcomed into the world.

Now, unfortunately, Mama Ghana seems to be experiencing some internal bleeding.The second yet unborn baby is breached! The doctor is trying to walk away from this sticky situation because the second baby is not coming out the normal way with head first, followed by the remainder of the body. Instead, it has one leg sticking out, struggling to pop out. The delivery has become more complicated than we can fathom. This is not good. It is unnatural to leave a baby unborn; it is deadly for mother and child! So the second baby cannot be left to die a pre-mature death inside Mama Ghana. So what is the doctor going to do about it? We have to wait and see. But why on earth didn't the doctor foresee a second baby despite the gargantuan pregnancy?

On a personal side, I can relate with Mama Ghana's experiences over labour complications, breech, C-Sections and the accompanying gargantuan unprecedented drama. Complicationsduring childbirth are not like a walk in the park. If such complications are not handled well, a death or deaths occur!

Of course baby number one is President John Mahama. Baby number two is Nana Akuffo-Addo. The doctor of course is Dr Afari-Gyan. Mahama has been delivered smoothly and the doctor thinks his work is done. But, not so fast! Ghana must resolve the Nana question. Whatever legal cases the NPP seeks to pursue should be done quickly so this heavy election cloud will be lifted off to enable ordinary Ghanaians to move on to the real issues: water, food, toilet, roads, housing and the likes.

The National Peace Council has been playing the role of the awkward mid-wife who hovers around the doctor trying to assist in ensuring a safe delivery. The Council has so far acted as a sage in the pre-election drama. But it must now watch the way it handles itself to avoid a

situation in which it loses credibility to remain the sage who can save Ghana out of this brewing post-election funk.

Where are all the elders of this town to take care of Mama Ghana with real tender loving care?

Love must ooze out of the elders. They must all put their heads together. Nothing must be left to chance. We must save Mama Ghana, the two babies and all their loved ones.

Unfortunately, there was a certain crude and unacceptable Third-Worldishness about this year's elections. It was as if the EC had never seen technology before so handled things as if it was strolling casually to a cocoyam farm. Even cocoyams would have been treated better than the EC treated Ghana. The lateness of the EC officials to several polling stations was not just

unacceptable but was disrespectful of the thousands of Ghanaians some of whom had congregated as early as dawn to cast their votes – old and young and even the very pregnant.

And, those annoying little machines had the audacity to reject anyone it felt like rejecting, without the decency to provide an explanation of some sort. The little monsters of verification

machines discriminated between families – it chose a husband but rudely rejected a wife while it verified a suckling minor who shouldn't have been registered as a voter in the first place. So a one day smooth election turned into a two-day voting torture. With that, the seed was sown for confusion laced with deception that disregards transparency.

Overhaul EC's PR Department:

Enters the Public Relations (PR) Department of the EC! In the 2008 elections, the PR Department was a big disappointment and performed below average. Strangely, the department

handles its work during elections in a business-as-usual manner although it is by now clear to us all that our elections fall within the realm of business-unusual. Our elections should be

exercises in crisis management. We must therefore operate from a posture of Murphy's Law – All that can go wrong, will – and not leave anything to chance.

It does not appear that rumour management is part of the ECs communication plan. In both 2008 and 2012, when rumours spilled over, the PR folks let them be, forgetting that factual

information is both a balm and a slayer of rumours. Last Saturday, when news broke of suspicions that STL might be doing something untoward at Dzorwulu that was casting doubts

over the credibility of the elections, the ECs PR people stayed mute much of the day, instead of responding promptly with explanations. They ignored Ghana just as they did in 2008.

It is troubling that part of the reason our country got on the brink of a melt-down in 2008 was due to poor communication planning and implementation. No communication in itself

communicates a great deal. The absence of communication can confuse, confirm suspicions and reinforce fears.

Long before Election 2016, the Electoral Commission must overhaul its PR outfit. Ghana should not continue to risk its life and survival to the inactivity of a lousy department whose

responsibility it is to communicate to the citizenry at critical moments during elections. To put it softly and gently, the PR Department of the EC is constipated.

A few enduring questions: Is the EC'sPR department technically and professionally well-equipped, as well as mentally well-suited and prepared to offer healthy communication to Ghana during general elections? No! The evidence does not suggest that.Why in the world has the head of the PR department worked in an acting capacity for such a long time? What is his level of expertise in the PR/Communication discipline? Would the EC place a non-IT person to head its IT department? There are more questions than answers.

Doris Dartey 

President Mahama wins Ghana Elections 2012

President John Dramani Mahama is the winner of the 2012 presidential election.

   The Chairman of the Electoral Commission (EC), Dr Kwadwo Afari-Gyan announced on Sunday night that he polled 5,574,761 votes (50.70%) while his closest contestant Nana Akufo-Addo of the New Patriotic (NPP) polled 5,248,898 votes (47.74%).

    The other results were:

    Dr Michael Abu Sakara Foster of the Convention People's Party (CPP) - 20,323 (0.18%) 

Mr Hassan Ayariga of the People's National Convention (PNC) - 24,617 (0.22%)

Dr Papa Kwesi Nduom of the Progressive People's Party (PPP) - 64,362 (0.59%)

Dr Henry Lartey of the Great Consolidated Popular Party (GCPP) - 38,223 (0.35%)

 Mr Joseph Osei-Yeboah (Independent) - 15,201 (0.14%)

Mr Akwasi Addai of the United Front Party (UFP) - 8,877 (0.08%).

The percentage turn out was 79.43

Total Registered voters were 14,158,890

Total votes cast were 11,246,982

Total Valid Votes -10,995,262

Total Rejected votes -251,720

Total constituencies – 275

GNA

Ghana Elections 2012 Final Electoral Commission of Ghana Results sheet

 

Ghana Elections 2012 : The tweet that say it all

 

Ghana Elections 2012 – the story so far

Here are a few things we know about Ghana's 2012 elections.

It's going to be close. With 168 of 275 constituencies reporting, incumbent John Mahama has 49.83% of the vote and his chief rival Nana Akufo-Addo has 48.68% of votes. That's lots closer than polls, which predicted a victory for Mahama, had been suggesting. Given that the third party candidates have less than 2% of the votes, a run-off seems possible, if both Mahama and Akufo-Addo remain below the 50% mark.

It wasn't perfect. This was Ghana's first election with a new biometric voter identification system. A massive registration drive issued voter ID cards that include information on the bearer's thumbprint. Voters present their card, verify their thumbprints and are then able to vote. This system malfunctioned in some locations, leading to long lines and hot tempers, and the electoral commission extended voting into today to ensure everyone can exercise their franchise.

 

People who do hard work with their hands will have some problems with the machine..EC must act now.. #GhanaDecides

December 7, 2012 11:01 am via UberSocial MobileReplyRetweetFavorite

@Twin_Senyo

Edward Senyo

One of the reports I read yesterday on Twitter suggested that some of the people having bad problems were people who work with their hands, suggesting that scars or blisters might be interfering with the scanner. An article today offered advice on cleaning hands using Coke or akpeteshie (locally distilled sugar-cane or palm wine liquor) to create more readable prints.

Ghana invested heavily in biometric systems because there's understandable concern about voter fraud. The 2008 election was settled by less than 40,000 votes and there was widespread concern that voters were sneaking across the border from Togo to vote, or voting multiple times. Stories like this one, in which biometric machines are revealing multiple attempts to vote, are getting good play in Ghanaian social media. (Great article, from the headline that implies a Robocop-style machine arresting the miscreant to descriptions of the gentleman's alacrity in eluding authorities. :-) Given successes like this one, it's likely that biometric voting will continue, with some fine tuning, in subsequent elections.

It was pretty damned impressive. Ghana has had a series of increasingly credible elections, starting in 1992, and capturing international interest in 2000, when a free and fair election ousted the party of former dictator (and later democratically elected leader), Jerry Rawlings. 2000, you may remember, was the year of endless Bush v. Gore drama in the US, and my friend Koby Koomson, then Ghana's ambassador to the US, sent me a copy of the letter he'd sent to President Clinton, offering Ghana's assistance to the US in election monitoring.

There's a wealth of articles that celebrate Ghana's successful democracy, including helpful insights from economist George Ayittey, who attributes democratic success to a strong and independent media, a vibrant set of NGOs, and maturity on the part of the nation's politicians, who notes that the 2008 election could easily have turned chaotic, had not Akufo-Addo graciously conceded.

What's interesting for me, as a passionate Ghanaphile, but an outsider to the political process, is that watching Ghana's elections is a helpful tutorial in global good electoral practices.

The video above, from the Ghana Decides project, shows the vote counting process in one of the poorer neighborhoods of Accra, the historically Muslim neighborhood of Nima. The transparent boxes, the public sorting of ballots and the crowd watching the process are all parts of an intricate system that helps remove uncertainty from the results.

So are images like this one: the results from a specific polling place, publicly posted. In Zimbabwe's last presidential election, posting these votes allowed the opposition ZANU-PF to conduct a parallel vote tabulation and contest MDC's assertions that they had won outright. Parallel tabulation efforts are underway in Ghana, as well, with multiple monitoring, civil society and media organizations trying to ensure that the electoral commission's results are in line with the reports at tens of thousands of polling places.

I'l be very interested to learn what my friends Mike Best at Tom Smyth at Georgia Tech and the team at PenPlusBytes learn from their experiments in social media monitoring. (Disclosure: I'm on the board of PenPlusBytes, and am advising Tom's on his dissertation.) They've been aggregating tens of thousands of reports via Twitter, Facebook and blogs, and following up on reports of violence or conflict. By monitoring Ghana's peaceful elections, they hope to establish best practices for using their tools in monitoring more contentious ones, hoping to defuse violence before it unfolds.

I'll offer two disappointments in Ghana's elections. One is that Ghana continues moving towards being a purely two-party state. One of the benefits of a two-round electoral system (which forces a run-off if no one receives 50% + 1 vote in the first round) is that it encourages people to vote for smaller parties to express preferences, knowing they can vote strategically in a second round. But Ghanaian politics appears to have turned into a battle between NDC and NPP, with few surprises, even when the third party candidates are smart, engaging and adding to the dialog.

Second, NDC and NPP allegiances often have more to do with geography and tribe than with platform. I saw a dispirited tweet last night that suggested the best way to improve your electoral chances was to increase the birthrate in the parties' respective strongholds. It's disappointing to see elections based more on ethnicity than on issues, but it's also clear this isn't the reason behind everyone's vote.

Here's hoping that a close race remains and peaceful one and that Ghanaians continue to have justifiable pride in a robust and transparent electoral system and a healthy democracy.

Ghana Elections 2012 : Presidential and parliamentary election produces amazing outcome in Western Region

Presidential and parliamentary election produces amazing outcome in Western Region

Takoradi, Dec. 08, GNA - This year's presidential and parliamentary elections have produced amazing outcomes in the Western Region with some New Patriotic Party (NPP) incumbent members of parliament suffering defeat.      Mr Samuel Johnfiah of the NPP, who had been voted into parliament on three consecutive occasions, suffered defeat to Mr George Kwame Aboagye of the National Democratic Congress, who was also a former chief executive officer of the Ghana Investment Promotion Council (GIPC).       The former Western Regional Minister under the President Kufuor-led administration, Mr Joseph Boahen Aidoo surprisingly lost to virtually unknown NDC candidate, Akwasi Oppong Fosu in the Amenfi East Constituency.       In the Evalua-Gwira Constituency, Madam Catherine Abelema Afeku, who was the incumbent MP in the area lost her seat to NDC candidate, Kweku Temakyi-Kessie.      In the Jomoro Constituency, the only seat held by the Convention Peoples Party by Madam Samia Yaba Nkrumah was lost to the NDC candidate Wing Commander Francis Kablan-Anaman (Rtd).       However, some NPP gurus in the region managed to retain their seats after a hot contest.       Those who narrowly retained their seats included Papa Owusu Ankomah in the Sekondi Constituency, Mr Joe Ghartey for Essikado-Ketan defeated NDC's Thomas Charlie Brown whilst Joe Baidoo-Ansah sailed through narrowly  in the newly created Kwesiminstsim seat by defeating NDC's Francis Apuri.       In Takoradi, the incumbent NPP MP, Kwabena Okyere Darko-Mensah, defeated his closest rival, Alfred Ekow Gyan of the NDC whilst Madam Gifty Eugenia Kusi retained the Tarkwa-Nsuaem seat for the NPP by defeating Madam Christina Kobbina, NDC candidate, who is also the municipal chief executive.       Meanwhile, the NDC had gained more grounds in the region by sweeping about 18 seats out of 26 improving upon the hitherto 11 seats.        In the Shama Constituency, the incumbent NDC MP, Gabriel Kwadwo Essilfie, retained his seat by defeating his closest rival, Joseph Cantamanto Gabrah of the NPP.      The Deputy Energy Minister, Mr Emmanuel Armah Kofi-Buah, defeated his opponent, Kwesi Bonzoh, in the Ellembelle Constituency.       Paul Evans Aidoo, Western Regional Minster, also won his seat in the Sefwi-Wiawso by defeating Dr Kweku Afriyie of the NPP.       Smek Ackah also won Suaman for the NDC whilst Sampson Ahi, who was MP for Juaboso, but as a result of division of that constituency into two; Bodi and Juaboso, he contested the Bodi seat and won decisively.       Moreover, both NDC and NPP new entrants managed to win seats in the newly created constituencies.        Joseph Cudjoe of the NPP won the newly created Effia Constituency by defeating the presiding member for the Sekondi-Takoradi Assembly, Mohammed Ali of the NDC.         George Kwame Aboagye of the NDC surprisingly defeated NPP's sitting MP, Samuel Johnfiah in the Ahanta West Constituency in a keenly contested poll.        Mr Kweku Temankyi-Kessie, a new entrant for the NDC, defeated the sitting NPP MP, Madam Catherine Afeku in the Evalua-Gwira.        The region is relatively calm as people are glued to their television sets and radios monitoring the elections.        The election security taskforce are still patrolling the region to curb any eventualities.

GNA

Ghana Elections 2012 : Four arrested for double registration

The Election Rapid Deployment Force (RDF) in the Eastern Region arrested four people for double registration during last Friday's polls.

      All the four were exposed by the Biometric Verification Device (BVD) when they attempted to vote at different polling stations across the region.

     At Korle Nkwanta Anglican Primary School Polling Station in the New Juaben South Constituency, Simon Kwaku Addo,50,  has two pictures popping up when he placed his finger on the BVD and when the police interrogated him, he confessed as having also registered at Kade and was handed over to the task force.

      Joseph Koranteng, also known as Kofi Koranteng, 52, also had his two pictures popping up when he placed his finger on the BVD at Effiduase Methodist JHS Polling Station and when confronted, he confessed to also registering at the Koforidua Zongo Clinic Polling Station.

       Addo and Koranteng are currently being held at the Eastern Regional Police Headquarters for further investigations.

       Esther Odame and Emmanuel Kwame Twum were also arrested for double registration when they attempted to vote at Gyankrom Polling Station, near Nsawam and are being held at the Nsawam Police Division Headquarters of the Police Service for further investigations and prosecution.

      At Akyem Awisa L/A Primary School and JHS Polling Station, Alex Asante, 45, was arrested for double registration and when he was searched, two voter ID cards were found on him, the two cards bearing his pictures but the other card bearing the name, Eric Adom, 44.

      The suspect was arrested and is now in detention at the Akyem Swedru Police Headquarters for further investigation and prosecution.

      The spokesperson for the Eastern Region Election Security Task Force, Assistant Superintendent of Police Yaw Nketia-Yeboah expressed the appreciation of the Task Force to the youth of Eastern Region for comporting themselves and supporting the peace initiative.

     He said there were a lot of allegations of ballot box snatching and people involved in various election offences but when the task force investigated they all proved to be false.

 

GNA

 

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Ghana Elections 2012 : National Election Security Task Force [NESTF] asks for restrain

The National Election Security Task Force [NESTF] wishes to express its profound gratitude to the public for their co-operation and for the good behaviour they have put up so far in the on-going general election.

This is the time for us to continue to support and co-operate with one another to ensure that voting at the few remaining polling stations are successfully completed. The public are further entreated to continue to maintain the peace the country is enjoying.

We, however, wish implore the members of the public to be moderate in the way they go about their celebration to avoid excesses, as it could erode the gains and successes we have all chalked together.

Furthermore, the public are also advised to exercise patience and wait till the Electoral Commission declares the final results before celebration

This is the time for reconciliation, togetherness and nation building, and we must all jealously guard against the gains made.

The public are however cautioned against attacks on vital installations and other facilities. The Police and their Sister Security agencies will not hesitate to do everything legitimate to maintain law and other.

 

                                                                                              AG. DIRECTOR/PUBLIC AFFAIRS

                                                                         [CEPHAS ARTHUR] DSP

Ghana Elections 2012 : President Mahama to meet the press

President John Dramani Mahama will address a press conference at 10.00 hours on Saturday, December 8, 2012.

A media invitation said the press conference would focus on pertinent issues arising from the 2012 Presidential & Parliamentary Elections.

Friday's general election was generally peaceful, but it was dogged by rampant cases of late arrival of voting materials at many poling centres. collapse of the biometric verification machines and rejection of the finger prints of eligible voters.

The Electoral Commission (EC) has decided to allow voting to continue in polling centres where the biometric machines failed during voting on Saturday.

The order does not, however, affect those whose finger prints could not be verified by the machines, the Director of Public Affairs of the Electoral Commission, Mr Christian Owusu-Parry, said.

Voters in the affected areas should go back home and return on Saturday when the EC would send new biometric verification machines for them to vote.

There has been a chorus of concern on the collapse of the biometric verification machines or failure to recognise the fingerprint of eligible voters.

There was also concern about the late arrival of voting materials in polling centres.

The Electoral Commission has issued a statement saying all eligible voters in the queue before the close of voting at 1700 hours would be allowed to vote.

The statement signed by Mr Kwadwo Sarfo-Kantanka, Deputy Chairman (Operations) posted on the EC website said: "The Electoral Commission wishes to inform the general public especially registered voters in polling stations where voting did not start early due to the late arrival of election materials, that the Commission has an inbuilt mechanism that will make it possible for all eligible voters who are in the queue before 5:00pm to vote.

"All eligible voters who are in queue before the close of polls at 5:00pm will be offered the opportunity to vote when the poll officially closes.

"The general public is entreated to be patient and allow the process to run smoothly."

Meanwhile, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) on Friday expressed concern about the electoral technical hiccups that has led to the possible disenfranchisement of many voters mainly due to the collapse of the biometric verification machines.

Mr Elvis Afriyie-Ankrah, the Campaign Coordinator of President John Dramani Mahama, told a press conference in Accra that many people were also disenfranchised because the biometric verification machine rejected voters with valid voter's identification cards.

He said there were many polling stations where people had not voted because of the collapse of the machines, citing himself as an example as he had not been able to vote.

"If we want free and fair election the EC should create the conducive atmosphere. The verification machines are not working and people are being told to go home. This is unacceptable," Mr Afriyie-Ankrah said.

Mr John Jinapor, Presidential Spokesperson, argued that people with valid biometric voter identification cards who had been rejected by the verification machines should be allowed to vote.

"People are being punished because a machine has rejected them. The EC should take appropriate steps to allow people to vote. It is a constitutional requirement," he said.

"To disenfranchise people is unacceptable. Whoever is eligible, whoever is in the queue should be allowed to vote."

GNA

 

 

 

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EC to declare winner in three days

Dr Kwadwo Afari-Gyan, Chairman of the Electoral Commission on Wednesday said the Commission would declare the results of Friday's election within 72 hours after the close of polls even though the country would know who is winning in 48 hours.   

The Commission, he said, would not rush to announce the Presidential result but would work within reasonable time to announce it.

 Speaking at a news conference organized by the Ghana Journalist Association (GJA) in Accra to bring to light the preparedness of the EC for Friday's election, Dr Afari-Gyan said all materials needed for the elections were already on the field to be distributed to the polling centres very early on Friday.    

He said the verification machines were tried and tested during the Tuesday's Special Voting, and was convinced that they were healthy for the job ahead even in the largest polling centres.   

Answering questions on the problems associated with the Special Voting where some security officials were not able to vote because their names were missing from the register, he noted the blame could not be put at the doorstep of the Commission because it was the security agencies, which failed to submit the particulars of their ID cards and polling stations during the compilation of the list for the special voting.    

"The EC cannot distinguish between professionals so in an exercise like this, we rely on information from the various security agencies who compiled the list for us", adding that it was based on the information provided that the Commission compiled the list of 29,914 members of the security services.   

"It has been agreed that those, who were unable to vote should go to their polling stations on Friday to vote", he said, and noted that both personnel and the media who have their accreditation, would be allowed to go ahead of the queue when they go to their polling stations so they could vote early and go back to work on Election Day.  

Dr Kwadwo Afari-Gyan told the media that as a matter of principle and his friendship with all the candidates, he would not vote in the Friday's election.   

On a lighter note, he said, "a referee does not have to vote for one team" because it would be practically the same as taking sides.
He said the EC would still rely on fax machines to receive results from returning officers because it was important to see signatures endorsing the results and copies available to political party representatives to quicken the pace.   

On the issue of minors, who registered to vote, he said, since they were not challenged from registering they could not be prevented from voting and that the best voters could do was to persuade them not to vote, adding that the anomaly could only be rectified by the law court.
GNA

NDC rounds off campaign with a rally

The National Democratic Congress (NDC) rounded off its campaign with a mammoth rally at the Trade Fair site with thousands of supporters in attendance certain of victory in the December 7 polls.   

Party big wits took their turn to address the large crowd clad in the red, white, green and black colours of the party, amidst dancing and singing.  

Mr Johnson Asiedu Nketia, the NDC General Secretary asked the supporters to be vigilant on December 7th to ensure victory for the party and second term to carry out its development agenda.   

He said while ensuring vigilance it was important that the supporters go about their duties in a peaceful manner to ensure that they did not play into the grand plans of the opposition to disrupt the elections.    

Mr Asiedu-Nketia urged the supporters not to get into conflict with security personnel on duty to maintain peace and order at the polling stations.  

Dr Kwabena Adjei, NDC Chairman, said it was not only polling agents, who needed to be on their guard, but every supporter of the party must remain watchful to nib the plans of the opposition in the bud.   

Mr Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo, Local Government and Rural Development Minister, said the government had been able to complete 15,000 projects in the areas of education, health, roads among others.   

He said there was hope for the youth in the next four years when the NDC was re-elected into power.  
 
GNA

NPP's massive final rally brings Accra to a standstill

The New Patriotic Party (NPP) on Wednesday brought the central business city of Accra to a halt with a massive rally held at the Afua Sutherland's Park to climax this year's election campaign.
The rally was used as a platform to sink down the NPP's message of "Free SHS" for Ghanaians, which has become a mantra for many people including school children.
Ghana goes to the polls on December 7th to elect a President and 275 legislators, who will govern the nation for the next four years.   
Vehicles moved at a snail's pace as a result of the huge vehicular traffic caused by the movement of horde of party supporters from various parts of the Greater Region to the rally ground.
The whole Ministries area to the entrance of the rally ground was packed full of party supporters as they struggled their way to the Afua Sutherland Children's Park to observe proceedings amidst heavy Police presence.
As at about 10am, supporters dressed in party colours had started arriving at the venue in their numbers, with traders of food and party paraphernalia cashing in on the rally.
The crowd kept swelling with time as every available space was covered, amidst drumming, singing and dancing.
As the gurus of the party climbed on the podium to speak, they were met with rapturous applauses.
When the name of the tough-talking Member of Parliament for Assin-North, Kennedy Agyapong was mentioned, the crowd was thrown into a state of wild jubilation with a chant of Fanti war song "Adumakoma Odapagyen".
In the middle of his presentation, the arrival of Nana Akufo-Addo, NPP Presidential and his running mate, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia was announced with the song "Nana is a winner". This threw the crowd into rage with everyone struggling to catch a glimpse of their presidential candidate.
There were chants of 'We want Free SHS" with Nana Addo responding to the cheers from the crowd with a wave of two of his fingers to signify victory and blown kisses of appreciation. 
The Police and security men of the NPP had a hell of time controlling the crowd and occasionally had to use 'minimum force' to send them back as Nana Akufo-Addo walked to the stage.
People were seen dressed in school uniforms and holding their trunks and chop boxes to signify their acceptance of the "Free SHS" policy.
The rally was also used as a platform to educate party faithful on the voting process to ensure their votes were not rejected.


GNA

Ghana Elections 2012 key social media platforms

Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/ghanavotes2012 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ghanaelections   @ghanaelections  #ghanaelections

Google +: https://plus.google.com/109471488372215322110/posts

Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ghanaelections/    & http://twitpic.com/photos/ghanaelections

#Ghanaelections 2012 Videos: http://www.youtube.com/user/ghanaelections

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Journalists urged to report accurately on election 2012

Journalists have been urged to acquaint themselves with the rules and regulations governing the 2012 presidential and parliamentary elections in order to give out the right information to the public.

"You serve as watch-dogs over everybody. When you do not do your job well, you do a great disservice, not only to your selves, but the entire nation as well," Mr. Alexander Poku-Akubia, Greater Accra Regional Director of the Electoral Commission, said this at a workshop for the media in Accra on "Enhancing the Credibility and Confidence of the Electoral Process."

He said especially on the day of voting, information comes from some media outlets, which upon verification often proved to be false.

Mr. Poku-Akubia said all it took for journalists to avoid giving out such false information, which was often alarming as well, was to have knowledge about some key aspects of the election, and also cross-check their facts thoroughly.

He said mechanisms which were absolutely trustworthy had been laid down to ensure that there were no fraudulent activities such as people voting more than once.

He said besides the laid down measures, the Biometric Verification System, ultimately ensured that all voters were indeed credible.

Mr. Poku-Akubia reminded the public that there were laid down legal procedures for reporting any suspicious or illegal act, adding that it was therefore very unnecessary for anyone to take the law into their own hands.

"The system is full of legal provisions for resolving issues. There is no need for any one to ever take the law into his own hands."

The workshop was a collaboration between the Electoral Commission, the United States Agency for International Development and the KAB Governance Institute.

Ghanaians go to the polls on Friday, December 7th 2012.

GNA

 

NMC AND NCA call on media to ensure free and responsible coverage on Election Day

The National Media Commission (NMC) and the National Communications Authority (NCA) on Tuesday met and discussed ways to improve broadcasting regulation in order to ensure free and responsible coverage of  the December 7 elections and the post election period.  A joint communiqué signed and issued by Mr George Sarpong, Executive Secretary of the NMC and Mr Paarock VanPercy, Director General of the NCA noted that the broadcast and other electronic media in Ghana had contributed immensely in developing the democratic culture of Ghana.     The communiqué indicated that the support of the media was crucial for the success of the 2012 election and that both the NMC and NCA had faith in the capacity of the media in Ghana to behave responsibly.     It further said that the NMC and NCA recognized that there was a fringe of media practice which bordered on unprofessional practice. The communiqué said: "It is the view of the two institutions that the peace, stability and cohesion of the nation depend in part on the behavior of the media as we go into the elections on December 7th.     It said: "Whiles the two institutions will take every reasonable step to support the media to perform their duties, we shall not hesitate to call to order any aberrations intended to undermine our collective peace and security and to throw our nation into chaos."     The communiqué also drew the attention of broadcasters and other electronic media to their responsibility and particularly to abide by the terms of their broadcast authorization, the various guidelines of the NMC and the code of conduct of the Ghana Independent Broadcasters Association (GIBA).     The two institutions have accordingly set up a Joint Committee to monitor the performance of the electronic media before, during and after the 2012 General Election and would duly apply the necessary sanctions against errant media houses, the communique stated.

GNA

High turnout at registration centres put pressure on staff

High turnout at the eight voter registration centres in the Kassena Nankana Municipality in the Upper East Region is mounting pressure on the registration staff. A court ordered the Electoral Commission to conduct registration of voters in the eight registration centres of the Atosale\Azaasi and Akumkongo\Abempingo electoral areas in the Kassena Nankana Municipality, where 3,000 people failed to register when the rest of the country was registering under the biometric system last March. Some people, who went on Monday to register, were not able to do so because of the long queues. A visit by the Ghana News Agency to the Abepingo registration centre on Tuesday saw three different queues made up of the aged, students and men and women. About 194 people had registered since Monday at the centre and before midday on Tuesday 80 had registered. The Akumkongo\Abepingo Electoral area has four registrations centres, one at Abepingo and three at Akumkongo.  Ms Christina Achana, an official at one of the centres, explained that a breakdown of printers on the first day delayed registration exercise which started at 1300 hours. Mr Joshua Apoeya, a student at the St John Bosco Training school in Navrongo, who spoke on behalf of the students, said they had only two days to return to school and had missed the first day already.  He expected that with the increasing pressure, the Electoral Commission should increase the number of staff to speed up the exercise. Madam Amagura Akalunga, a 50-year old woman at Abempingo said, she could not register on the first day because of the long queue and had come again hoping to be able to do so.  At Akurugu Daboo the printer situation was not different and only 70 people were able to register on the first day, while 70 more had registered by noon on Tuesday. Mr Adinan Seidu, registration officer at Doba Primary, said 140 had registered as at 1230 hours.

GNA

 

Performance of verification machines satisfactory

Election officials in charge of Tuesday's Special Voting at Anloga, Keta, Dzodze and Denu have described the performance of the voters' verification machines as satisfactory.

They were optimistic that the machines would not pose any major challenge during Friday's presidential and parliamentary elections.

The only challenge during the special voting in those areas were the absence of names of some security personnel on the special voters' registers, the Ghana News Agency (GNA) was told.

Mr Felix Dabi, the Returning Officer at Denu, said about 25 persons could not find their names in the special voters' list of 790 personnel.

He said about 500 of the special voters had cast their ballots by 1200 hours.

Mr Emmanuel Odonkor, Aflao and Dzodze Districts Police Commander confirmed a similar situation at Dzodze where 162 security personnel were not on the list of 580 special voters.

At Keta the names of 17 personnel could not be found in the list of 630 voters.

Affected persons contacted declined to comment.

GNA

 

Police institutes adequate measures for peaceful elections in Brong-Ahafo Region

Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) Robert Ayalingo, Brong-Ahafo Regional Police Commander on Tuesday said a well equipped joint operation centre would be established at the Regional Police Headquarters to receive information on all issues on the elections on Friday, December 7.

It would include a sub-committee on media, intelligence investigations, legal and prosecution. 

DCOP Ayalingo said the centre would coordinate and monitor the elections to respond quickly and nib any electoral violence in the bud as well as periodic briefing to the press on situational reports.

He was speaking to the Ghana News Agency in Sunyani on measures instituted to ensure violence free elections in the Region.

DCOP Ayalingo urged the media to be closer to the centre for reliable information but not rely on the general public for false information likely to create tension in the Region.

He said more than 300 security personnel would be dispatched from Accra after the special voting to beef up the 2,800 personnel to cover the 2,740 polling stations in the Region.

DCOP Ayalingo said two security personnel would be positioned in each of the 540 flash points identified.

He pointed out that Special Task Force Personnel from Rapid Deployment Force (RDF) and Special Weapon and Tactics Unit (SWAT) trained to handle riots would be deployed to the flash points to ensure the electorate exercised their franchise without fear and intimidation.

DCOP Ayalingo said 10 sports utility vehicles had been acquired for the Brong-Ahafo Regional Security Task Force for monitoring on December 7.

Seventy-four pickups from public institutions and 20 buses had been mobilized in addition to 75 Police vehicles to enhance operations in the flash points.

DCOP Ayalingo said the Police Administration had made provision for all the necessary logistics support for effective and efficient performance on Election Day.

He said all health institutions in the Region had been contacted to ensure the availability of health personnel to attend to emergencies in addition to 15 ambulances available for the 29 constituencies in the Region.

On security personnel, who could not trace their names for the Tuesday Special Voting, DCOP Ayalingo said a list had been compiled and would be on duty at polling stations closer to where they registered to enable them exercise their franchise on December 7. while performing their duties efficiently.

He pointed out that some Regional commanders of security agencies failed to submit their names when they were being compiled, while some cases were genuine omissions on the part of the Electoral Commission (EC).

GNA

 

Ghana Elections 2012 : The 3,000 voters in Kasena still cannot vote - Supreme Court Judge

The 3,000 people in the Kasena Nakana District who the Human Right Court ordered to be registered to take part in the upcoming elections can still not vote on Friday.

 

     This because the Regulation 9 (5) of CI 72 which deals with an individual's right to register and to vote indicates that the Electoral Commission (EC) is still prohibited from including in the voters register the name of the person who qualifies to register as a voter for an election but who registers less than sixty days to that election.

 

     This issue came to the fore when a five-member delegation from the African Union (AU) and ECOWAS Election Observer Mission led by General Olusegun Obasanjo, former President of Nigeria on paid a courtesy called on the Chief Justice, Mrs Georgina Wood at his office in Accra.

 

    The delegation is in the country to observe Friday's general elections.

 

    The meeting between the Chief Justice and the group also offered them the opportunity to learn at first hand measures being put in place by the judiciary to resolve electoral disputes should they arise during the process.

 

    During the  discussion, Mr Musa Fatau, Director of Political Affairs, ECOWAS posed a question whether the short time left for the EC to register the 3000 people were going to be registered and added to the main register would not pose a problem to the whole electoral process.

 

    The Chief Justice, Mrs Georgina Wood said the 3,000 people cannot vote and even if they allowed to vote somebody can challenge that action in court.      

 

     Justice Sule Gbadegbe, Justice of the Supreme Court, who also commented on the issue said even if the 3,000 people were registered by the EC they still cannot vote because the duration of the date of registration and the voting date is less than sixty days.

 

    He said education on that aspect of the law would help inform the public on how one can register and qualify to exercise their voting rights during the elections.

GNA

Media urged to avoid sensationalism in election reporting

The Eastern Regional Director of the Electoral Commission (EC), Mr Paul Boateng, has appealed to media personnel to avoid exaggeration in electoral reporting as their contribution towards peaceful elections this year.   He urged the media to present the facts as they are to the electorate to enable them make their own decisions.   Mr Boateng was interacting with media personnel from some media houses from the Eastern Region in Koforidua on Monday.   Mrs Faith Amedzake, Deputy Director of the EC, said a voter could thumbprint the ballot paper several times provided the printing did not cross into the column of other candidates.    She said ballot papers used to cast the vote without the validation stamp of the EC behind them would not be counted as valid votes and appealed to agents of the political parties to be vigilant and ensure that all ballot papers are validated.    Mr Erick Mensah-Bonsu, first Deputy Regional Electoral Officer, said the region has 1,429,682 registered voters within the 33 constituencies with 2,971 polling stations.   He said 152 parliamentary candidates filed their nomination in the region with 12 of them being females and there are 17 independent candidates.    Mr Mensah-Bonsu said the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) filed candidates in all the 33 constituencies.

GNA

 

Names of security personnel missing from the special voters register

Some security personnel who showed up at the Subin sub-metro polling centre in Kumasi to vote became disappointed as they could not find their names in the special voters register.        Security personnel and staff of the Electoral Commission (EC), who would be on duty on December 7, are voting 72 hours ahead.        Mr Gilbert Asante, Deputy Returning Officer at the centre, said those whose names were not on the electoral roll could still cast their ballot on elections day.          He said the hitch might have been caused by the non-submission of voter identification (ID) cards by the officers to their headquarters during the compilation of names of the early voters.       The affected officers, however, expressed anxiety that they might after all not be able to exercise their franchise.          This is because they are likely be deployed to polling centres outside constituencies where they registered.           A total of 1,540 officers are expected to vote at the Subin sub-metro centre and as of 1000 hours, when the Ghana News Agency (GNA) visited, 350 of them had already voted.          Voting, which started at exactly 0700 hours, had so far been smooth with the verification machines working very well. GNA

Special voting takes of smoothly in Central Region

Special voting by security agencies and officials of the Electoral Commission (EC) took off smoothly in all the 23 constituencies in the Central Region on Tuesday.  Security personnel from the Ghana Police Service, Ghana National Fire Service, Ghana Immigration Service, Ghana Prison Service and EC officials queued at the Police Headquarters polling centre in the Cape Coast North constituency and at the Fire Service Headquarters in the Cape Coast South constituency, to exercise their franchise.      The Ghana News Agency (GNA) observed that at the Regional Police headquarters as at 0900 hours, 117 personnel had voted out of  656 eligible voters designated to cast ballot at the centre while  at the Fire Service  Headquarters,  85  out of 435 personnel had voted  as at 0914 hours.    Mr Anthony Nyame, Cape Coast Metropolitan Director of the EC, told GNA that voting started exactly at 0700 hours and that there were enough voting materials for the exercise.   He said agents of political parties contesting the December 7 polls were present to observe the exercise.

GNA

 

Police Officers complain of missing names from register

Some senior police officers in Accra are complaining that their names cannot be found in the voters register and therefore they cannot take part in the special voting exercise that is currently on-going across the country. When the Ghana News Agency (GNA) visited the polling station at the Kaneshie Police Station, some of the Senior Police Officers who spoke on conditions of anonymity said more than 40 Officers could not find their names in the voters register even though they were told by their superiors that they were to cast their votes at that particular polling station. According to the Officer, those who could not find their names were registered at the Police Training Depot at Tesano and wondered why their names were not included in the register. He said when they complained to the Presiding Officer at the polling Station, they were told nothing could be done unless they waited till Friday December 7 before they could exercise their franchise. He, however, appealed to the Electoral Commission (EC), to find an alternative solution to the problem because most of them may be working outside their constituencies on Friday. Mr Joseph Quartey, the Electoral Officer at the Station confirmed the story and said the exercise had, however, been peaceful and that he was expecting 1,434 security personnel and other EC officials to cast their votes.

GNA

Names of some security personnel not found in register during special voting

Nine eligible voters including Assistant Chief Fire Officer (ACFO) Apraku Larbi, Brong-Ahafo Regional Commander of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) were disenfranchised in the special voting which started earnestly in the Sunyani East Constituency on Tuesday morning.

Election officials at the Brong-Ahafo Regional Police Headquarters could not trace the names and particulars of the disenfranchised voters on the biometric voters register.

The other disenfranchised voters comprised personnel from the Ghana Police Service, Ghana Immigration Service and the Third Battalion of Infantry (3BN).

They were, however, disappointed after they had joined a long queue only to realise that their names were not on the register.

One of them, a military officer, told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) on condition of anonymity that though he did not check his particulars during the exhibition exercise, he used the text code to ascertain his eligibility.

Meanwhile when the GNA visited the polling station, only the National Democratic Congress (NDC), New Patriotic Party (NPP), Progressive People's Party and Convention People's Party (CPP) had their polling agents present.

A total of 1,132 eligible voters are expected to cast their ballots.

 

GNA

Ghana Elections 2012 :Election officials attend workshop

The Electoral Commission (EC) has organised a workshop for 1,070 election officials in the Asikuma Odoben Brakwa District towards the December 7 presidential and parliamentary elections.

 

     The participants included 214 presiding officers. The rest were polling agents, party executives and biometric verification device officers.

 

     Facilitators included the district electoral officer, Mr Gabriel Dowuona Hammond, Mr Charles Arkoh the  returning officer, Mr Frederic Forson, deputy returning officer and Mr Raymond Owusu also a deputy returning officer.

 

     Briefing the Ghana News Agency, the returning officers said that participants were taken through their various roles as election officials, adding that electoral offences were punishable so they should take the workshop serious.

 

     Some of the electoral offences mentioned included forcing somebody to vote for a particular party; giving or receiving money or something of value as a means of inducing a person to vote or not to vote in a certain way, and intentionally destroying a poster, ballot paper or any other literature related to an election.

 

     The District Electoral Officer said a citizen could, within 21 days after the results had been declared, challenge in the High Court and the Supreme Court the validity of an election

 

GNA