What an anti-climax with your ‘goof’ declarations; you’ve just nailed your own coffin with your whole ‘Abordaa’ attitude to end your term as Electoral Commissioner this year.

‘MOMENTS IN HISTORY’ are akin to ‘making irrevocable decisions’, like Julius Caesar crossing the Rubicon with his army, thereby starting a civil war in Rome in early January 49 BC. Crossing the Rubicon has become an idiom meaning “passing a point of no return”.

At long last, we have reached yet another end (or dead-end?) corner of the street that leads to nowhere, or what looks more like a cul-de-sac – a street or passage closed at one end; a route or course leading nowhere; or a position from which one cannot escape. This mirrors the way our politics is now advancing, with all the rumours of skirmishes to order the Police or any division of the Armed Forces to stage a make-believe ‘coup’ in an attempt to steal the Ghanaian vote.

I wasn’t expecting anything abnormal from my dear friend’s wife, except that I also wasn’t expecting anything normal, as that would seem out of character. Thus, when the nine (9) outstanding constituencies’ issues started playing out, I questioned myself as to why she couldn’t just walk off stage as the Electoral Commissioner without much controversy.

“In the Nsawam Adoagyiri Constituency in the Eastern Region, where the New Patriotic Party (NPP) incumbent Member of Parliament Frank Annoh-Dompreh was being challenged by the National Democratic Congress’s (NDC) Philibert Amenorpe Fummey, the EC boss said the collation of the results was not completed.

“She said, ‘On election day, supporters besieged the collation centre and brought the collation there to a halt. As mentioned, the Commission tried to complete the collation process on Friday, December 13. However, when the collation for 143 polling stations had been done, there was an agreement to put it on hold until the following day.’

“Jean Mensa added, ‘Sadly, that following day was not to be, and the collation was called off because we were informed by the police service that supporters of the parties were planning to besiege the police depot and cause disruption at the centre. We were advised to put it on hold, so that collation remains incomplete, and we cannot declare an outcome.’ (GhanaWeb)

“For the Ahafo Ano South West Constituency in the Ahafo Region, where NDC’s Sedik Abubakar is challenging NPP’s Osei Mensah Dapaah Elvis, Jean Mensa said the collation on election day was also disrupted, and no winners were declared.

“She added that the collation process for the constituency was ‘incomplete, and until they are complete, the Commission will not be in a position to declare a winner.’ (GhanaWeb)

“For the Ahafo Ano North Constituency, the EC boss repeated the same concern for the Ahafo Ano North Constituency, also in the Ahafo Region.

“She said, ‘The collation on election day was also disrupted, and no winners were declared,’ adding that the process was ‘incomplete, and until they are complete, the Commission will not be in a position to declare a winner.’ NDC’s Adusei Kwasi is challenging NPP’s Eric Nana Agyemang-Prempeh, the Chief Executive Officer of the National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO), for the constituency’s seat.” (GhanaWeb)

“For the Obuasi East Constituency, the Commission indicated that in Obuasi East in the Ashanti Region, its returning officer was forced to declare NDC’s Samuel Aboagye the winner.

“The collation centre was attacked by party supporters, and the returning officer was threatened with an axe. His hands were lined up, and he was asked to declare a winner when that was not what was reflected on the results collation form. Again, that process was not lawful, and the Commission would not uphold it,” Jean Mensa said.

“The candidate for the NPP for Obuasi East was Patrick Boakye-Yiadom.” (GhanaWeb)

“For the Okaikwei Central Constituency in the Greater Accra Region, the Commission indicated that NDC’s Baba Sadiq was declared without the results of 31 polling stations of the constituency.

“In Okaikwei Central, I did mention that 110 polling station results were used to declare a winner instead of 141. The Commission would not uphold that process,” Jean Mensa said.

“Baba Sadiq challenged the NPP incumbent MP for the area, Dr. Patrick Boamah.” (GhanaWeb)

“The commissioner repeated the concern for the Okaikwei Central Constituency for the Ablekuma North Constituency also in the Greater Accra Region.

“He indicated that NDC’s Ewurabena Aubynn was declared the winner of the constituency’s seat without the results of 62 polling stations.

“In the Ablekuma North constituency, 219 polling station results were used to declare a winner instead of 281 polling station results. The Commission would not uphold that declaration.

“The NPP’s candidate for the constituency is Nana Akua Owusu Afriyieh, a former MP and the current Deputy Chief Executive of the Coastal Development Authority.” (GhanaWeb)

“The Commission also nullified the declaration of the Tema Central Constituency, where NDC’s Ebi Bright was declared the winner.

“Jean Mensa said, ‘In Tema Central, the DEO again was threatened, and he was forced to declare results using 146 polling stations instead of 148. The Commission would not uphold that declaration.’

“Ebi Bright contested against NPP’s Charles Forson.” (GhanaWeb)

“For the Techiman South Constituency in the Bono East, the EC boss said that the returning officer was assaulted and forced to declare the results in favour of the NDC candidate.

“The returning officer and the other staff were physically assaulted and forced to re-declare the results at gunpoint. It is important to note that the collation process had not been completed. There also, the Commission would not uphold those processes,” she noted.

“NDC’s Christopher Beyere Baasongti challenged the incumbent NPP MP and Minister for the Ministry of Local Government, Decentralisation, and Rural Development, Martin Adjei-Mensah Korsah.”

“For the Dome Kwabenya Constituency in the Greater Accra Region, the EC indicated that it was investigating the results of three polling stations to enable it to make a decision.

“Jean Mensa said, ‘There is some contention with three polling station results. The Commission is carrying out its own investigation with the three polling station results. I believe 367 of those results have been duly declared as legitimate. There are three results that are outstanding and the Commission is carrying out its own investigations to enable it to make a decision.’

“NDC’s Elikplim Akurugu was declared the winner of the constituency’s seat, beating NPP’s Mike Oquaye, Jnr.”

My intention is not to meddle with anything administrative, legal or political, in the current game of my dear friend’s wife, considering the 180-degree turn on how she dealt with similar issues in the 2020 national elections. She twists issues as they suit her whims and caprices – playing into my fears, which necessitated the beginning of this series, ‘THIS IS YOUR MOMENT IN HISTORY, MY DEAR FRIEND’S WIFE’.

When your predecessor, Madam Charlotte Kesson-Smith Osei, who is currently the UN International Elections Commissioner, and born in the same month as myself, was set up by a pack of political hoodlums for procurement breaches, nobody saw into the future that her successor, you, would soon become a victim to the same entrapment schemes.

Let me confess, I am neither a witch, an oracle, nor a seer, and therefore, I cannot see into the future. However, with Ghanaian politics, I have seen enough to predict with some level of certainty that you, my dear friend’s wife, will not last six months after the official inauguration of the Presidency of His Excellency, John Dramani Mahama. He will definitely not be the one to trigger this move.

What you will be faced with is what philosophers term ‘KARMA’, which is the sum of a person’s actions in this and previous states of existence, viewed as deciding their fate in future existences; or good or bad luck, viewed as resulting from one’s actions.

They say the law of karma does not take revenge; it is a natural reaction to one’s actions, to the extent that the fruits of karma are inevitable.

They further say that karma does work and will come back to you when you least expect it, because it is the basic law of nature: positive and negative come back the way you put them out in the world; and simply put, it is “you reap what you sow.”

This was the sense of my initiating the series, ‘THIS IS YOUR MOMENT IN HISTORY, MY DEAR FRIEND’S WIFE’, because I needed to caution you about the consequences of all your actions as the Electoral Commissioner. If you listen to your appointers, especially the overall head, His Excellency the President of the Republic, who wants to influence or even attempt to without success, all will trigger the same dire consequences.

If you had only taken me seriously, even though I knew when I started the series that you could never act otherwise than to play ball.

Or, if you had only been mindful of what Madam Charlotte Osei went through with the witch-hunting, and played straight, especially avoiding all the last-minute double or triple collations and switches as to who finally won.

Trust me, what lies ahead of you will be murkier than what Charlotte went through, so brace yourself. Need I say more?

-

By Magnus Naabe RexDanquah, the ‘Ghanaian Septuagenarian’