GHANA 2012:MAHAMA WINS NANA AKUFFO-ADDO WITH GUNS, ARMOUR ED TANKS IN ACCRA

W-O-R-L-D E-X-C-L-U-S-I-V-E!!!

GHANA 2012:MAHAMA WINS NANA AKUFFO-ADDO

 WITH GUNS, ARMOUR ED TANKS IN ACCRA

BY ABDULMUMINI ADEKU

[LIVE REPORTAGE FROM ACCRA IN 2012]

 

…………………………………………TWO MAJOR GLADIATORS FIGHT FOR OSU CASTLE

…………………………………………JOHN DRAMANI MAHAMA IS THE INCUMBENT

…………………………………………NANA AKUFFO-ADDO’S FATHER WAS THE SECOND PRESIDENT OF GHANA

………………………………………MAHAMA REPRESENTS THE NATIONAL DEMOCRATIC CONGRESS{N.D.C]

……………………………………..AKUFFO-ADDO REPRESENTS NEW PATRIOTIC PARTY{N.P.P.]

………………………………………ELECTION RESULTS FOR THE PRESIDENCY WAS DECLARED AROUND ELEVEN P.M. ACCRA LOCAL TIME ON THE 8^TH OF DECEMBER,2012

………………………………………..IS 2016 GOING TO BE DIFFERENT,WHO WINS THE DIADEM IN THE ABSENCE OF NANA KONADU AMONG OTHER TOP FLIGHT POLITICIANS

The Ghanaian Presidential Elections for 2012 was declared amidst a tight regimen of security at the Electoral Commission of Ghana’s offices at Ridge Road,Osu in Accra,Ghana in December,2012

In 2012,,this reporter was among the cream of international journalists that swooped on the International Press Centre in Accra,Ghana for snippets and other forms of information leading to the polls and even thereafter.

At the time ,two young Americans students and observers from Wayne State University,Miss Zenobia Jeffries and Miss Samantha Samuel had told this reporter that they had voted in their country before but never had to use biometric machines for identification as it was not in there culture to do so.

Top flight Ghanaian politician and Chairman of the opposition party at the time:Chief Jake Obatsebi-Lamptey was seen hailing and calling after the Chairman of the Electoral Commission ,Ofori-Gyan from the ground floor as the latter looked down at him from what appeared to be the entrance to his office upstairs.

Lamptey speaks  at the time:”When you were  small and down  trodden ,you were all over me but now that you are big and up there you do not even remember me any more at all”

Efforts made by this reporter to speak directly with him did not yield any dividends  at the time.

Lamptey was spotted leaving an opposite but private residence directly by the Electoral Commissions of Ghana office at around 3:15P.M. Accra,Ghana local time similar to the Greenwich Mean Time just an hour ahead of Lagos,Nigeria.

At about 3:45P.M. angry youths numbering about 300 started to protest and were asking the Electoral Commission to release the results as they had believed that their chosen candidate actually won depending on the sides of the divide they belonged to anyway thus igniting a tensed atmosphere at Ridge Road.

A source told this reporter that after Jake Obatsebi-Lamptey had refused to speak to the press he had gone to incite some of his supporters to violence ,how this remains to be true remains debatable till  this day..

It was observed that members of the Ghana Army and its anti-riot policemen  stationed at the electoral office to quell possible unrest had a hectic time doing so.

At about 5:00P.M. local time, members of a combined team of anti-riot policemen from the Ghana Police were seen firing shots and canisters to disperse the surging crowd.

At least 5,000 policemen were said to have been stationed at the electoral Commission of Ghana’s office aside from another 500 armed soldiers on ground.

Another aspect of the 2012  election was the issue of partisanship by the Ghanaian media  along political lines and ideology.

A source reported that a colleague of his was sympathetic to N.D.C  for reporting a news material which was said to have benefited the opposition party N.P.P

As the tension built up at the Electoral Commission ‘s office,it was observed that most sections of the Ghana media bluntly refused to report the protests that rocked the electoral commissions office regarding who the actual winner of the contest between Mahama and Akuffo Addo was.

A source told this reporter that the delay in the announcements of the results of the presidential poll was due to the fact that John Dramani Mahama controlled N.D.C regime was trying to coerce the electoral commission of Ghana to delay the results from been announced so that they could outsmart Nana Akuffo-Addo ‘s N.P.P.

Investigations revealed that there was a connection centre between the Electoral Commission s offices and the various collations centres nationwide just as Former President Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria was delayed for at least 45 minutes before been allowed into the electoral office proper by officials at the time.

Checks showed that there was a serious dispute among supporters of Akuffo-Addo and Mahama as the two accused each other of fraud with many saying that the results given to them by the electoral officials was different from the one’s made available to the press.

Mr Ohene Boakhe Danquah of Osu,Korley klottey Constituency in The Greater Accra region was not happy at the role Obasanjo played at the polls as he accused him of a bias back then in 2012.

A Popular television station :Net Television had its signals shut down for not less than two weeks at the time because the owner was perceived to be an N.P.P. sympathizer and party heavyweight.

A source speaks:”I remember that a lot of Ghana Telecommunications equipment was ceded to Vodafone when it was sold to them and since they control a lot of things in the media  then they may be behind this “

“four years ago,the same thing happened here but it was covered up by the entire system and the local and international media”

As this reporter was scooping for fresh clues like a sniffer dog ,a group of N.P.P. supporters went into a stampede as they pointed at N.D.C. supporters  who were trying to infiltrate the crowd of mostly protesting N.P.P. supporters  in what was  to be an open confrontation  ,with this reporter chosen to leave the scene  at this juncture  because of threats of gunshots by soldiers to quell possible election tension.

Another source from N.P.P. who seems to have switched camp days after his candidate was said to have lost out said:”ECOWAS had asked Atta Mills to bring soldiers to quell the crisis in Cote’d’Ivoire but he had declined,Akuffo-Addo said in an infamous remark”let-all-die-be-die”,which is a way of saying in Ghanaian parlance that he wanted  us to be at war”

“but our people wanted peace and for this they never forgave him and even if he becomes or president he will be out to fight at every opportunity”

“He equally assaulted somebody shortly after the Presidential debates and this does not look like a way of behaving  for a Presidential Candidate”

When this reporter visited the Headquarters of the  party in power even when  the announcement of Mahama as the winner in 2012 had not been officially done though he was said to be in the lead ,efforts made to speak to the National Chairman of his party at the time ,Chief Kwabena Adjei ended in a terse reply from him:naija man enjoy our party this is not the time for questions ,we are celebrating our victory”