NPP: Manso Nkwanta MP petitions regional executives over primaries
The just ended Manso Nkwanta New Patriotic Party (NPP) parliamentary primary which produced the closest result of a difference of only a single vote has sparked a controversy.
Advertisement
Aside the fact that a delegate, Yaw Sarpong, confessed to double voting which was detected after the voting and discounted, ensuing events had made the incumbent Member Parliament (MP), Ms Grace Addo to petition the Regional Office of the party for review of events.
Regional Executive
Regional Secretary Mr Sam Pyne, confirmed that his outfit had received the petition and put in motion the process to investigate the matter.
Madam Grace Addo, Member of Parliament (MP) for Manso Nkwanta had 215 of the votes counted while her main contender, Mr Joseph Henry Quarm had 216 votes, a vote more.
She also alleged that his polling agent, who should have been vigilant, connived with the other candidate and the Electoral Commission (EC) officers to cheat her.
Confession
In an interview with Graphic Online, Madam Addo, who said she had educated the delegates about the voting process and expressed surprise when Sarpong approached her after casting his vote and confessed that “Madam I have voted twice for you”.
Shocked by the confession, she reported the culprit to the Amansie West District Officer of the EC, who was in-charge of the election.
She said other delegates also informed her about a grand scheme which included her own agent who had connived with others to allow some specific delegates to be given two or more ballot papers.
The incumbent MP added that one such person was caught trying to vote twice and prevented from doing so and that in all these happenings, her own polling agent claimed that nothing of the sort had happened.
Other Trending Stories
EC Official
On his part, the Amansie West District Electoral Commission officer, Mr Stephen Bertino Beabereyire, corroborated the issue that a delegate confessed to voting twice and investigations indicated that it was a mistake on the part of the EC official.
He said it was agreed that since all votes were stamped before they were given out, they should bid their time and that when vote closed and the ballots were sorted out, they detected the two votes were folded together.
He explained that when the two were opened, it was detected that one of the ballots did not have the EC stamp and after some discussion they all reached a consensus that the invalid ballot must be discarded.
Mr Beabereyire said the spoilt ballot was discarded to the satisfaction of all the delegates and the contestants.
He was emphatic that the number of ballot given out as against the votes counted were the same, indicating that there was no over voting.