Youth election in shambles
Armed police officers, wearing bullet proof vests, whisked away the Ashanti Regional Director of the Electoral Commission (EC), Mr Paul Boateng, to safety, while other officers of the commission and security personnel abandoned the ballot boxes at the National Democratic Congress (NDC) youth congress in Kumasi to elect a national youth organiser and two deputies.
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The EC could not declare the results. Provisionally, Sidi Abubakar Musah polled 385 to beat the incumbent National Youth Organiser, Mr Ludwig Hlodze, who had 196 votes. It was the results for the elections for deputies that led to the chaos.
Voting and counting went on with very little encumbrances but just as Mr Boateng was about to mount the podium to declare the results, supporters of one of the only two female candidates among the nine persons vying for the deputy national youth organiser position, Ms Abigail Ellorm Mensah, raised red flags about the results.
They quickly asked for recount, to which the Chairman of the party's Electoral Committee, Mr Ken Dzirasah, agreed and announced to the hearing of all gathered that there was going to be a recount.
However, to the utter surprise of many gathered at the Atonsu Youth Centre in Kumasi, immediately the EC officials brought the ballot boxes and tables to begin the recount, Mr Dzirasah swallowed his own words and told Ms Mensah and his supporters that the result would be declared.
He advised them to seek legal redress if they had any inkling that they had been cheated.
This unexpected turnaround by the elder of the party incensed the supporters of Ms Mensah, who vowed to ensure that the results were not declared. Not even the might of the police could allow Mr Boateng, who had been surrounded by over 15 policemen to announce the results, both for the national youth and that of the two deputies.
Mr Dzirasah, the EC boss and Deputy Employment Minister, Ahmed Jamal were under siege for well over three hours. Led by Ms Mensah, the supporters insisted that either the votes were recounted or they would all stay till the end of time.
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They claimed that their candidate would have been the second deputy national youth organiser and not the incumbent, Mr Kofi Fonu, who was believed to have beaten Ms Mensah by six votes.
Police officers looked on helplessly as a group of Ms Mensah’s supporters engaged the supporters of Mr Fonu in a heated squabble. The other half also virtually held the trio – Mr Dzirasah, Mr Boateng and Baba Jamal – hostage, in the full glare of the police.
Tonnes of insults and curses were heaped on the three, who had sought refuge on the high table, with about 15 policemen standing by them. The police would intermittently intervene and in some cases plead with the aggrieved persons to allow peace to prevail.
Elections
During the casting of votes, a member of the party, wielding a local whip called Kamoko, thrashed some delegates he claimed were not behaving properly, a situation which culminated in a melee.
Other delegates, in retaliation, inflicted some few slaps on the man with the Kamoko, resulting in a 30-minute free-for-all bout. The police intervened and calm was restored.
At the time the Daily Graphic was leaving the centre around 9:20pm, Ms Mensah’s supporters were keeping watch over the ballot boxes, because all the party officials, both national and regional, as well as other supporters, had left the scene.
Most people, including reporters, started running for their dear lives when the lights went off and whole place became dark.