The 39-year-old Christian Nukpeta is to spend three months in jail.

Sene West ballot box snatcher jailed 3 months in addition to 5-years ban

Enoch Darfah Frimpong Dec - 12 - 2020 , 10:48 2 minutes read

The man who snatched a ballot box in the Sene West constituency in the Bono East Region on Election Day has been convicted by a court.

The 39-year-old Christian Nukpeta is to spend three months in jail.

He has also been banned for five years from registering and voting in any election in Ghana.

In addition to the custodial sentence and ban, he is pay a fine of GH¢3600.

If he defaults the payment of the fine, he will spend an additional six months in jail.

The sentence was handed over to him when he appeared before the Techiman Circuit Court, presided over by Justice Alexander Graham on Friday, December 11, 2020.

Nukpeta, a resident of Tato Battor pleaded guilty to the charge and he told the court that, he did not know why he engaged in that act.

The court was told that he snatched a Parliamentary ballot box at one of the polling stations in the area when the counting process was ongoing.

It took the intervention of the security personnel at the scene to pursue and arrest him.

Even with that, when the box was returned, it had one of the seals, the one belonging to the New Patriotic Party (NPP) candidate removed.

How EC will enforce the ban

In a television interview on Accra based Joy New's Newsfile programme on Saturday morning, [December 12, 2020], monitored by Graphic Online, the Director of Elections at the Electoral Commission (EC), Dr Serebour Quaicoe explained how the EC will enforce the ban.

He said the EC has already checked and Christian Nukpeta's details are in the current register.

He will be "quarantined" in the system and once the EC already has his biometrics, anytime he attempts to register, his details will pop up.

Dr Quaicoe said he would have preferred a more harsher custodial sentence for Nukpeta so that it would serve as a deterrent for others who may want to engage in a similar act in future.

Sene West seat

The Sene West Parliamentary results in the Bono East Region is currently outstanding following a court injunction.

The EC cannot declare the results until the court has determined the case before it.

The outstanding Sene West seat was contested by three candidates in Monday's election.

They are the incumbent Kwame Ampofo Twumasi of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Joseph Kumah Mackay of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and Caesar Fomekah of the National Democratic Party (NDP).