Dr. Peter Boamah Otokunor of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) says the party will not accept the declaration of Ernest Yaw Kumi as the MP-elect for the Akwatia constituency in the Eastern Region.
On Thursday, December 12, the Electoral Commission (EC) moved the collation of disputed results in some constituencies in the Eastern Region to the Police Training School in Tesano, Greater Accra, to avoid the chaos witnessed in other constituencies.
After the re-collation at the Police Training School, the returning officer declared Mr. Kumi, the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) candidate, as the winner.
However, Dr. Otokunor disagreed with the declaration, citing what he described as inconsistencies with the results on the pink sheet.
He claimed that the polling station agents for the NPP candidate did not have an original pink sheet.
“They don’t have a pink sheet at all; they have photocopies of what is considered the pink sheet,” he told Joy News’ James Avedzi.
Dr. Otokunor further explained that even with the photocopied pink sheets, the NDC had no objections until they discovered that the numbers on their pink sheet did not match those of the NPP. He also claimed that the EC had collated the results in the absence of the NDC team.
“Unfortunately for Akwatia, our people ran a bit late, and they had to continue despite our objections. I called Jean Mensa and asked her to stop the process and give us two hours to arrive at the venue, but she refused,” he claimed. “She actually said she would engage with the Commission and get back to me. When she called back, they claimed they had finished and had declared the results,” he added.
For Dr. Otokunor, the declaration of Mr. Kumi as the MP for the area is “illegal, unfounded, and non-existent. Akwatia is still standing,” he argued.
He called for a “proper” collation and a “proper declaration” for the Akwatia seat.
The results from three constituencies in the Eastern Region have been disputed since Saturday, and Dr. Otokunor remains optimistic that the NDC will win these seats.
According to the available parliamentary results, the NPP has secured 77 seats, the NDC has secured 185, and there are three independent MPs-elect, while other seats are still outstanding due to disputes.
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