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NPP youth in protest demonstration
Accra, Dec. 31, Ghanadot/GNA – A number of
New Patriotic Party (NPP) youths on Wednesday afternoon
besieged the Electoral Commission (EC) offices in Accra to
protest against the holding of the Presidential Election
Runoff in the Tain Constituency on Friday.
They were shouting and demanding that the votes from the
Volta Region should be audited before the holding of the
election in Tain.
Some of them were holding placards one of which read: “No
Volta No Tain”.
The youths, who were wearing NPP tee-shirts and other NPP
paraphernalia, sang and danced behind crowd barriers mounted
by the Police on the roads leading to the offices.
At a certain stage they surged forward and the Police drove
them back by spraying water on them.
Sheik I.C. Quaye, Greater Accra Regional Minister, later
invited them to his residence at Ridge.
As they moved from the EC offices to the residence of Sheik
Quaye, they destroyed a bill board of Professor John Evans
Atta Mills, Presidential Candidate of National Democratic
Congress (NDC), mounted along the Liberation Road at the
junction to the residence of Former President Jerry John
Rawlings at Ridge.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) Opong-Boanuh, in charge
of the operation; told GNA that everything had been brought
under control.
He advised that, party leaders should take pre-emptive
action by talking to their youths to refrain from acts that
undermined the security of the State.
The GNA Reporter had a taste of the youths’ anger when they
seized his pen and notebook from him.
One of them asked: “Are you from Radio Gold? Adding, Radio
Gold has been inciting the NDC youth.”
Dr Kwadwo Afari-Gyan, Chairman of the Electoral Commission
(EC), on Tuesday announced that because the results of Tain
Constituency could mathematically determine the outcome of
the Runoff, he was deferring the declaration of the winner
of the 2008 Presidential Election Runoff.
He explained that the number of voters in the Tain
constituency was more than the difference between Professor
Mills and Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo of New Patriotic Party
(NPP).
“He announced that the results from 229 out of the 230
constituencies that have been certified by the EC, gave Prof
Mills 4,501,466 votes representing 50.13 per cent of the
total valid votes cast while Nana Akufo-Addo garnered
4,478,411 votes, representing 49.87 per cent.
Thus the difference of 23,055 votes could not give Prof
Mills the presidency since the number of voters in the Tain
constituency was more than the figure.
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