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Walewale NPP primary re-run declared null and void after ballot sorting was disrupted

Enoch Darfah Frimpong Politics Sep - 09 - 2024 , 18:14

There was confusion at the re-run of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Walewale constituency parliamentary primary on Monday.

Following the disruption of the ballot sorting which led to the destruction of some ballot papers, the Electoral Commission (EC) has declared the Monday voting as null and void.

The EC has therefore referred the decision to the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to take a decision on the way forward since it was an internal party event to select a nominee to contest the December parliamentary election on the ticket of the party.

The party will now have to take a decision to fix a new date for the election to be held immediately before the filing of nominations for the December 2024 parliamentary election in the Walewale constituency closes by the end of the week.

How voting started on Monday

The voting process itself went smoothly after the venue for the primary had been changed earlier in the day.

During the sorting of ballot papers after the voting ended around 4pm, one person snatched some ballot papers and attempted to bolt with it. He reportedly destroyed some ballot papers.

But the police intervened, collected the papers and apprehended the suspect.

Some gunshots were heard, said to have been fired by the police as warning shots in an attempt to maintain sanity.

The suspect is currently in police custody.

The party executives then intervened to maintain calm and the ballot papers were transported to the police station for the process to continue.

Gabriel Manu, the North East Regional Director of the Electoral Commission said the process started in the morning and everything went on well.

He said voting was finished successfully and when they started sorting the ballot papers, at a time just about 10 ballot papers had been sorted, "a man from no where came in and just took some ballot papers, destroyed some of them, but the police arrested him, put him in handcuffs."

"All the ballot papers right now are intact. They brought them to the police station, so we are meeting the regional minister and the security apparatus and seek the way forward, whether we are going to do the counting today or tomorrow after taking sober reflection," Mr Manu said around 6pm when he spoke to the media.

Mr Manu said he heard a gunshot when the individual snatched the ballot papers when the sorting was ongoing.

However, after examining the ballot papers later at the police station in the night and taking into consideration the ballot papers that were destroyed, the Electoral Commission declared the voting as null and void.

Police statement

Meanwhile, the police has named the man who disrupted the ballot sorting as Kamara Bawah.

In a statement the police said he was being held for causing damage to some ballot papers.

It said security has since been strengthened within Walewale and its environs to ensure law and order.

Background

The Tamale High Court last week annulled the NPP's Walewale Constituency parliamentary primary results and ordered a re-run of the primary.

The court held that the initial election was flawed with irregularities, impersonation and over voting.

In January, Dr Kabiru Mahama, a special advisor to the Vice President, narrowly defeated the incumbent Member of Parliament for Walewale, Hajia Lariba in a tightly contested primary.

The election saw Dr Kabiru winning with 345 votes against Hajia Lariba's 338 votes.

Unsatisfied with the outcome, the incumbent Member of Parliament (MP) on January 27 headed to court to challenge the results, citing electoral irregularities and malpractice.

The NPP then settled on Sunday, September 8, 2024 as the day for the re-run but postponed it to Monday.

Voting was expected to start at 7am but it was delayed as the initial venue was changed from the Walewale Senior High Technical School to the Walewale astro turf and then later to the Walewale Pentecost Church.

A total of 842 delegates were expected to vote.

Writer's email: enoch.frimpong@graphic.com.gh

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