Sunyani police halt NPP demonstration
An attempt by a pressure group to stage a demonstration against the declaration of the sitting Member of Parliament for the area, Mr Kwasi Ameyaw-Cheremeh, as the winner of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) primaries in the constituency was halted by the police last Tuesday because the organisers did not have a police permit.
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The police in Sunyani in the Brong Ahafo Region dispersed the crowd after they had grouped at a location carrying placards with inscriptions, some of which read: "We need recounting", "Where is the one vote?"; "No Kumi, no vote"; "We need Kumi"; "Sunyani says no to Ameyaw"; "Sunyani Mugabe, where is the one vote?"; and "Kumi is our hope".
Angry members of the group, known as Concerned Citizens of Sunyani East Constituency, spoke to the press and called on the national executive of the NPP to ensure the recount of the Sunyani East Constituency ballots for the sake of fairness.
Most members of the group, numbering over 300, were wearing red bands and T-shirts bearing the image of Mr Kumi.
They claimed the results as announced by the Municipal Electoral Officer, Mr Yaw Opoku, could not be the true reflection of the election outcome and were, therefore, calling for a recount of the votes.
The spokesperson for the group, Mr Emmanuel Ayamba, expressed worry that the constituency executive had taken sides in the issue under contention.
He said all the executive members had been moving from one radio station to another to defend Mr Ameyaw-Cheremeh in the just-ended NPP primaries.
He said the group would continue to mount pressure on the executive until their grievances were heard.
According to Mr Ayamba, the constituency executive and the incumbent MP had teamed up with the Electoral Commission to refuse the recount of the votes.
Mr Ayamba, who is also the Campaign Secretary of Mr Kumi, led the demonstrators to assemble at the Oti Yeboah Guest House (formerly Catering Rest House) but the police prevented them from pursuing their cause.
Chief Superintendent Samuel Yankey, the Municipal police Commander, said the leadership of the demonstrators did not notify the police of their intention.
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He urged them to follow the right procedure for approval before embarking on such an action in future to maintain peace and order.
Mr Kumi, a former Ambassador to Libya and also High Commissioner to Nigeria in the President John Agyekum Kufuor’s administration, had 387 votes while the incumbent Parliamentarian, Mr Kwasi Ameyaw-Cheremeh, had 388 votes in the keenly contested election to win it.
Background
It will be recalled that the Saturday, June 13 NPP primaries in the Sunyani East Constituency ended with the incumbent MP beating Mr George Kumi with a vote.
A day after the primaries, Mr Kumi filed a petition calling for a recount and forensic audit of the results.