The spokesperson of New Patriotic Party (NPP) Presidential Candidate, Nana Akufo Addo is asking some two members of the 18 member Electoral Commission election Steering Committee to step down from the Committee.
They are Joseph Whittal, a Deputy Commissioner at the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAG) and Francis Azumah of the National Peace Council.
The accusations leveled against them are that Joseph Whittal who is a Deputy Commissioner at CHRAJ is a known member of the NDC and a former Parliamentary Candidate for the party in the Builsa North constituency in the 2000 election.
In the case of Francis Azumah, he is being accused of being a senior member of the NDC in the Builsa North constituency, who has at various times tried to contest as Parliamentary Candidate for the party.
Speaking to Citi News, spokesperson to Nana Akufo Addo, Mustapha Hamid stressed that they will not relent in their efforts to get the two booted out of the committee.
Joseph Whittal is held in high esteem in NDC
He argued that “Joseph Whittal in the 2000 general elections was a contestant in the NDC primaries in Builsa North against Baisel Adunfa. He was all over the nukes and crannies of Builsa North contesting to be NDC candidate. In fact when Jerry Rawlings visited Sandema to campaign, Joe Whittal was carried shoulder high, it was a market day at the chief’s palace in 2000.”
Azumah was collation centre representative for NDC candidate
“In the case of Azumah, in the 2004 election where Agnes Tsigabakyea was in that contest against the NDC candidate called Timothy Awintirim. Now during the collation of results in Builsa North, Azumah was Timothy Awintirim’s representative at the collation centre so he’s also an activist of the NDC.
These are people who have the passion, the zeal, the commitment to have been openly working for the NDC to win the election in Builsa North and today you want to put them in charge of a committee that has the capacity to manage our election and supposedly in a non-partial and fair manner?”
Arhin dropped from committee
In a related development, the EC following pressure from pro-opposition group, Let My Vote Count Alliance (LMVC) dropped Dr. Karl Marx Arhin, an NDC member from the supposed independent Election Steering Committee.
However, LMVC said it still believes the committee is compromised despite the withdrawal of Dr. Arhin.
Source: citifmonline.com
