In 2004, when Jake Obetesbi Lamptey pre-empted the EC and declared John Agyekum Kufuor to be the winner of the presidential elections, Prof Mills the NDC cnadidate claimed that NPP stole the election. According to him, he only let the matter go because NPP was prepared to let Ghana burn, and he didn't want to be part of the mayhem. This is precisely the reason why NDC has been very vigilant in monitoring the conduct of the 2008 elections. A few days ago an NPP minister and MP, Maxwell Jumah, was caught on tape speaking about plans to rig the Dec 28 elections. There were rumors of thumbprinted ballot papers doing the rounds in many constituencies especially in Ashanti. Fellow Ghanaians, it looks like the vigilance of the NDC has created an unfavorable environment for mass vote rigging at the polling stations, even though there were reports of astronmical increases in the numbers of voters at certain locations in Ashanti. Faced with a palpable and veritable drubbing by Professor Mills, what was the last desperate resort of the NPP rigging machinery? This may sound like an Ayiyi and Adetsorvi story but it is fact. A bodacious attempt to change polling results that had been previously collated and certified at the distict level, was put in motion. Let me to explain into some detail what exactly we are talking about here. At the constituency level when votes are counted and collated, the party representatives present are required to append their signature signaling that they certify the results to be accurate. These certified results are countersigned by the electoral commission official present. The final document is faxed to the EC strong room in Accra. So if you were listening to radio or on the web last night, these certified results were the ones being reported, and it is the winner of this tally who becomes president. Here is where NPP's bodacious attempt to steal the election this afternoon came in. One Kennedy Agyepong, a an NPP MP, appeared at the Electoral Commisions strong room this. By the time he left, one EC official was attempting to change certified Ashanti Region voter figures; figures which had been certified and reported late last night. And when NDC monitoring officials questioned what the official was doing, he responded that the new figures were corrected ones from Ashanti Region; figures not certified by EC personnel at the district level and figures carried into EC headquarters by an NPP MP. And the new figures were all significantly higher than the previously certified ones that were reported to the public earlier. Trouble and pandemonium ensued at the EC headquaters. The brazen and incredible aspect of this daylight robbery was the fact that NPP attempted to conduct this illegality in the full view of tens of NDC and NPP officials at no other venue than the Electoral commission's strong room. A vry bold attempt indeed. Why? What is wrong with NPP? What kind of desperation makes a party resort to these tactics? And this is the same party that consistently labels NDC as undemocratic, coup-loving and thuggish? How different is a party that usurps the popular will of voters through such machinations? How different is such a party from a military regime borne of a coup d'etat? What is the difference? Is it because the NPP is usurping Ghana without guns? Is it the absence of AK47s and M16s that make the difference? And these are the very people who spare no opportunity to lecture us about democracy and good governance? BTW, what edict stipulates that Akuffo Addo must be president at all cost? Was he ordained by God? Was he born of a special birth and predestined to become president? Why? What an irony! The supposed coup party, NDC, organized peaceful elections and handed over peacefully to the self-acclaimed democrats in 2000, and yet the so-called democrats cannot countenance handing over to anyone else? Is this a Hollywood script or reality? Why? For the longest, I have labeled the NPP as a cabal of self-seeking crooks who have hijacked our democracy to private ends. They speak the language of democracy, and tote lofty and high-sounding democratic ideals but in reality, democracy has always been a cover behind which they hide to obtain our mandate. Their real motivation for seeking our votes is to use the mandate and the power to seek wealth, illegally and criminally. That's all they care about. In 8 years they've all become dollar millionnaires with no work, labor or investment to show for it. So why are they doing their damnest to remain in power? Their very daily breads are at stake, hence the push to retain power by hook or crook. There is not a single iota of democratic conviction in those who hold the reins of power in NPP. The Kufuors, the Akufo-Addos and Osarfo Marfos are simply smooth operating crooks who have hijacked our democracy to work their self-serving iniquities. And I am thankful to God Almighty that he has chosen such a day to EXPOSE their behinds to the Ghanaian public. It is shameful and incredible. In any case, Afari-Gyan, the electoral commissioner is expected to deal with this issue tomorrow. Any attempt by him to cheat Atta Mills and NDC out of their deserved win is likely to mire Ghana in trouble, the likes of which Africa is notorious for. These people have no good intentions for our country. They must go. Credit: Hiadzie, Reuben