Although the NDC was defeated by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) during the last election, Mr. Amidu in his latest article insisted that “…as I said time without number during the 2016 elections, she was appointed by a corrupt Government precisely because of her incompetence that made her susceptible for use for an election rigging agenda.”

[contextly_sidebar id=”a97iDDHeXwoM3DGgBkpksH1DZfbWLeF7″]“Her appointing Government failed in the rigging agenda despite all the attempts by the Commission to narrow the election to a two-party race to facilitate easy rigging for the incumbent. She has, either on her own or at the instance of her mentor, been trying to recycle herself as a neutral Electoral Commissioner after her Church Papa mediated her peaceful announcement of the election results,” he added.

Petition against EC boss

Charlotte Osei who was appointed as the Chairperson of Ghana’s Electoral Commission in June 2015 has come under intense pressure from persons within and outside the commission who are calling for her dismissal following some recent developments within the election regulatory body.

The EC’s tensions came to the fore after some employees of the Commission petitioned President Akufo-Addo to dismiss Charlotte Osei for alleged financial malfeasance.

Prior to the petition, Mrs. Osei had had asked the Commission’s Deputy Chairperson in-charge of Finance and Administration, Georgina Opoku Amankwah and the Finance Director , Dr. Joseph Kweku Asamoah to proceed on leave over the loss of some GHc480, 000 from the EC’s Endowment Fund.

‘Incompetent’ Charlotte Osei could have done better

Mr. Amidu in his latest epistle said Charlotte Osei showed her “incompetence” when she engaged in a banter with some members of the commission in the media.

“Come what may, the Chairperson of the Commission had a supreme responsibility to maintain the integrity of the priceless Commission of which she had leadership. She should not have allowed herself to have been baited into fighting and exchanging vituperative words publicly with both Deputy Commissioners and other members of management. Speaking for myself, she once more exhibited her incompetence and lack of leadership skills that in my view rendered her unfit for appointment to the high office of Electoral Commissioner in the first place,” he added.

Below is Martin Amidu’s latest article:

NDC CREATED THE ELECTORAL COMMISSION CHAOS THAT NOW PORTENDS A BAD OMEN FOR THE CONGRESS: BY MARTIN A. B. K. AMIDU

The NDC’s precipitate defensive actions, without waiting for the blood to cool and reason to assume its seat, when the petition against their appointed Electoral Commission Chairperson, Charlotte Osei, became public knowledge, may see all the three Commissioners appointed by the Congress or a number of them whipped out of office and new ones appointed by their so called adversaries, the NPP.

This is happening because we all remained silent and allowed charlatans and strangers to our values and ideals to hi-jack the NDC and alienate the most committed, selfless and experienced strategic and tactical founding thinkers of the party. The last few weeks saw the Electoral Commissioner, Mrs. Charlotte Osei, with the conditions of service of a Justice of the Court of Appeal, descending into the gutters and casting aspersion on her two Deputy Commissioners, also with the conditions of service of Justices of the High Court. She completely lost her comportment, decorum, and above all the high moral character and proven integrity of a Justice of the Court of Appeal to exhibit absolute patience in the face of every provocation so as to maintain the honour and dignity of her high office as the Electoral Commissioner and of the Commission as a whole – simply because the constitutional right of petitioning for her removal had been invoked against her.

Come what may, the Chairperson of the Commission had a supreme responsibility to maintain the integrity of the priceless Commission of which she had leadership. She should not have allowed herself to have been baited into fighting and exchanging vituperative words publicly with both Deputy Commissioners and other members of management.

Speaking for myself, she once more exhibited her incompetence and lack of leadership skills that in my view rendered her unfit for appointment to the high office of Electoral Commissioner in the first place. But as I said time without number during the 2016 elections, she was appointed by a corrupt Government precisely because of her incompetence that made her susceptible for use for an election rigging agenda. Her appointing Government failed in the rigging agenda despite all the attempts by the Commission to narrow the election to a two-party race to facilitate easy rigging for the incumbent.

She has, either on her own or at the instance of her mentor, been trying to recycle herself as a neutral Electoral Commissioner after her Church Papa mediated her peaceful announcement of the election results. The petition to the President for her removal from office by some alleged officers of the Commission made her to welcome support even from the leadership of the NDC in and out of Parliament.

They in turn, without producing any evidence charged the NPP Government in several statements and interviews published in the media with witch-hunting her from office.

The two Deputy Electoral Commissioners who were also appointed to the Commission by the past NDC Government felt compelled to explain their versions in response to the unusual accusations from their Chairperson in the media, as though they supported the petition against her, Charlotte Osei.

The responses of the two Deputy Commissioners who had been longer on the job than the Chairperson cannot be said to be witch-hunting by the NPP. However, the NDC, which had alienated almost all their experienced and founding strategic and tactical thinking members just could not think very deeply of the consequences of their three appointees fighting each other in public at the Commission. I suspected that once the NDC had openly taken the side of the Chairperson whom we, anti-corruption crusaders, suspected was appointed with a rigging agenda, they threw caution to the wind and could not have the patience of old age to cut their losses.

My fears that the chaos at the Commission would lead the present young crop of the NDC to self-destruct was confirmed when I discovered on 29th and 31st July 2017 respectively that the author of the second petition for the removal of the two Deputy Commissioners was Emmanuel Korsi Senyo, the concerned citizen, who had acted in the past as an NDC surrogate commencing action against the General Legal Council in the Supreme Court in defence of Francis Sosu, who had contested the primaries in my constituency, Madina, for the NDC. The second petition is not, therefore, from any witches from the NPP let alone to hunt the Deputy Commissioners. A quick Google search will establish that Emmanuel Korsi Senyo a.k.a Emmanuel Korsi Senyo Kumedzina is a young activist of the NDC and “Tutor and Head of Department Social Science at the St Prosper College, Ho” who graduated from KNUST sometime in 2009. This discovery made me to find out whether the NDC could blame anybody should the investigations of the three petitions lead to the removal of all three Commissioners and how that was going to be an achievement for the NDC.

Certainly, the NPP would then appoint all the three new Commissioners should the independent Committees investigating the allegations contained in the three petitions find all three Commissioners guilty of the charges against them. What is the political utility to the NDC if the Committees do find even the two Deputy Commissioners guilty as charged?

So, I asked my NDC colleagues the question, why did the defence of the Chairperson get the NDC so incensed that their surrogates decided to throw out the baby with the bath water by petitioning against their two other appointees? This could not have happened in the founding NDC because the incompetent and massive looser John Dramani Mahama would never have had the chance to fool the youth to kill all their parents and be without experienced elders to consult for strategic and tactical decision-making.

We are now working in the NDC kingdom without fathers which John Mahama created, and with which he massively lost the elections. Should all the three Commissioners or one or two be removed from office, the NDC can only have itself to blame for its predicament and not any witch-hunters from the NPP after being petitioners ourselves to facilitate the possible removal of all three Commissioners.

I hope the NDC has learnt bitter lessons from the John Mahama Government’s inept looting and losing leadership style and wish to God that we can collectively reorganize the party to instil that level of integrity and honour that will give us a chance in the nearest future to return to lead a true incorruptible social democratic Government of the people and for the people of Ghana.

Martin A. B. K. Amidu (Citizens Vigilance for Justice)

3 rd August 2017

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By: Godwin Akweiteh Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post NDC appointed Charlotte Osei to rig election – Martin Amidu appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

According to him, not even the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) “lies and propaganda” can sustain the electorates’ interest and confidence in the party in the 2020 elections.

“The NDC will emerge much stronger and I do believe that in four years time, the NPP will choke under its own lies and propaganda and that is the truth,” the MP stated on the Point Blank segment of Eyewitness News.

“We believe that by four years’ time, Ghana will be able to compare propaganda with reality. The reality is that the honeymoon period will be over, the goodwill will be over. It will be now be down to the concrete facts,”he added.

Mahama is NDC’s best bet for 2020

Mr. Adongo further stated that, the “best person” to “bring the NDC back to power in 2020, is none other than John Dramani Mahama.”

The MP was however quick to add that, the decision to contest in 2020 election or not, still lies on the former President.

“It is a decision that he himself has to take, but for now, let us not stampede him. He needs to relax, he needs to give the party the space to be able to repair that vehicle.”

The MP believes that “if the party takes a decision to give the confidence once again to John Mahama, the NDC will be in for a contest.”

Mr. Adongo  is not the only person who has declared his support for the former President.

The Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Okudzeto Ablakwa, made a similar suggestion, saying “He is my candidate; I can confirm that to you. If he throws his hat in the ring, he will have my full support. And I think that he is our best bet because on what record, who’s legacy will we be running on? It is his record.”

Former President Mahama suffered the worst election defeat of a sitting president in Ghana’s democracy, where he recorded 44.40 percent of valid votes cast, losing to the New Patriotic Party’s Nana Akufo-Addo, who was endorsed by 53.85 percent of the electorate.

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By: Marian Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @EfeAnsah

The post NPP will “choke under lies, propaganda” – NDC MP appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Speaking at the Independence Square in Accra to mark this year’s Eid-ul-Adha prayers, President Mahama emphasized the need for Ghanaians to maintain peace before, during and after the elections.

[contextly_sidebar id=”tXIotZeMwWlOCgIqh1PykYHoicONOzA0″]“As we gradually inch towards the 2016 general elections, we should all endeavor to uphold the peace that has characterized our elections. It is this that has made us to be described as the model of democracy in Africa. I am always thankful that Allah has blessed me with the opportunity to be the President of such an industrious united and peace loving people like Ghanaians. It is for this reason that I am very confident that once again when our democratic credentials are tested on December 7, we will respond with vigor and deliver yet another peaceful, fair and transparent election to the world.”

Hajj challenges

President John Mahama also expressed his dissatisfaction with challenges associated with the organization of this year’s Hajj.

The President’s comment comes days after hundreds of prospective pilgrims were stranded for days at the hajj village in Accra, and failed to make the trip.

Some prospective pilgrims accused the organizers of sending non-Muslims and business men and women to Saudi Arabia, only to do business and not to perform the ritual.

But President Mahama at the event , announced measures government has put in place to prevent a recurrence of such challenges.

“This year, we conducted a successful Hajj, and I wish to express my regret to all who due to certain reasons were unable to embark on the Hajj this year. This was due too many factors. One was the airlifting of 2,000 passengers from the Tamale International Airport, which was very well patronized, and reduced the quota of those who took off from Accra.

“Another factor was the dramatic growth in pilgrim numbers beyond the quota that was assigned Ghana by the Saudi authorities. I have asked the Hajj committee to request an increase in our quota of pilgrims from the current 5,424, to 7,000 pilgrims next year. “

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By: Marian Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Uphold Ghana’s democracy during 2016 polls – Mahama appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Out of the 34 seats in the region, the NDC and the opposition New Patriotic Party control 20 and 14 respectively; but the NDC is hoping to increase its number to 25.

[contextly_sidebar id=”oNrYX4n2ZaYC0P4Oa9TQfBJZyt05PLOB”]The NDC argues that, it has worked hard enough to merit more seats in Ghana’s capital city.

Speaking to Citi News, Greater Accra Regional Organizer of the NDC, Anthony Nukpenu, said the NDC has put in place measures to achieve its objective.

“In this year’s election, we are very hopeful to increase our seats to not less than 25. If there should be a voter turnout of 75 to 80 percent, we should be able to garner not less than 55 percent of that voter turnout in Accra. That expectation is leading us to work towards 1.5 million votes out of the 2.9 million votes on the register; which we think if 2.5 million would be voting, then 1.5 million should be for the NDC,” he added.

NDC’s strategy for election 2016

The NDC has launched its national  and regional campaign teams aimed at ensuring victory for the party in the December 7 general elections.

The party has also mapped out some strategies nationwide aimed at giving its presidential nominee, President John Dramani Mahama a second term; including agenda 50/50 in the Eastern Region, one million votes in Ashanti Region, one million votes in the Volta Region among others.

Follow the hashtag #GhElections on Social Media for election related stories

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By: Godwin A.Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @AlloteyGodwin

The post NDC vows to capture 5 NPP seats in G/Accra appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.