Necessary Rigging?

The rather unfortunate events that where uncovered by light in Akuafo Hall this Tuesday (4th November, 2008) may leave some members of the hall in shock for the rest of their natural lives. It was partially a black day for Democracy as you will soon find out, however I fear that the details when laid down has the potential to make a champion of fairness and equality flare up with rage, shatter in disappointment, collapse in agony and after being revived cry heavily for the future of this great hall and by extension the country as a whole

I wrote this notice as a proud member of Akuafo hall not because I had the time to do so but because I would have been tormented with sleepless nights had I not expediently try to inform all students about the events of the election that grieves my heart so much, as such I desire nothing more than to say it as it is, nothing more or less. As a first hand observer to most of the events of this day I know that I am better equipped with some knowledge of what really went on.

As most students know, Akuafo Hall undertook an electoral exercise to elect its JCR executives. What started out as a prosperous election soon metamorphosed into an intrigue of unpleasant events. First of which, was what looked like an attempt at multiple voting by a Student, this was after the heavy down pour. As a keen observer to the voting that was on going I soon found my attention transfixed on a group of people who had apprehended a “student” on the premise that he was attempting to vote twice. When the fingers of this suspect where checked there was no indelible ink mark on any of his fingers and yet here he was parading before us all going to vote!!. Upon inquiry from some students standing by; I learnt that this particular boy was involved in a disagreement earlier that very day at this very polling station which happens to be at the main hall. The attention of some vigilant students who where on lookers having cast their ballots previously was drawn to him during his first visit and this made it easy to apprehend him the second time he tried to vote.

As I thought would have been the right thing to do at that juncture, the suspect was being escorted to the legon police station by campus security personnel at the seen, as dumb founded as he was. However this was not without fierce interference, for out of no where a certain group of boys came to the defense of the suspect and this resulted in a physical confrontation between both groups that resulted in the senior campus guard on duty there being physically assaulted by one of the boys from the protesting groups, he was advised by his colleges to stop after which he did stating that it was only because the man was old. If this person is reading this notice, the message in quotes is directed to him, “May God punish you severely for the arrant nonsense and stupid show of brute force that you displaced on this day and may the geometric weight of what you did to that old man be done to you the day that you reach his age, and that is even if live to be his present age”. I eagerly followed the two groups as they proceeded with the suspect to the legon police station but this was not without resilient resistance.

The Resistance became so intense to the extent that the old man in charge of security at the scene upon noticing that he and his men had in the heat of things abandoned their post indirectly leaving the security of the voting exercise to the polling agents of the contestants said in Akan that “we liked talking too much” and simultaneously return with his colleagues to the polling station. Naturally there where several verbal treats and insults exchanged between the two groups as one party insisted on taking the suspect to the legon police station while their rivals rejected the idea claiming that their colleague was innocent. Well the “devil” won that first encounter and so the culprit got away Scot free (with the ballot papers in his hand). If this person is reading this notice, the message in quotes is directed to him, “I have not forgotten your ugly face, remember that justice may be delayed a while but with time strangles tools for villains such as yourself.” After the suspect was released to his friends and the security men had returned to their post some party agents lost confidence in the ongoing voting exercise and vehemently declared their distaste by pointing accusing fingers at the “Mr. Chalk it cool indifferent Electoral Commissioner” who was overseeing the main hall polling station, this resulted in various groups of persons in disagreement with each other. This clash was far more intense than the former, the result of which was the immediate suspension of voting.

Members of the hall who where more willing than ever to exercise their franchise to vote for a candidate of their choice soon became spectators to the spectacle that ensured between the agents of the various candidates. Some where of the view that the whole election be hastily declared void since the Electoral commissioner in their opinion had turned out to be a wolf in sheep’s clothes as he was rigging in favour of a contestant or some contestants, others held the opinion that “the election be made to continue after which all candidates would have 24hrs to put forward their grievances to be settle as stated in the halls constitution”, while yet some sympathizes to some aspirants where of the view that the elections proceed as their candidates had poured alot of their heart, time and money into their campaigning, however, surprisingly a Presidential aspirant immediately pulled out of the race stating that he did want to be a party to a faulted, soiled and messy exercise while some students I spoke to, felt that the ballots cast where enough to elect the incoming executives and as such the election should be brought to a close( indirectly those waiting to vote, “can go and sleep”). Would-be voters in the tight queues where compelled to stand for well over an hour during which the polling agents, security men and the Electoral Commissioner tried to come to a compromise and abate the tension, when it seem like all hope was lost a few phone calls where made, and several minutes later we soon discovered that two senior members( I would not mention names) of the hall where present with us, however the good news that we where to hear was not for the faint of heart as it was powerful enough to weaken the heart of the strongest "hearted" man, spring fought within him a river Nile of tears and bring him to his knees with his hands upon his head contemplating whether or not to run amok the hall crying bwe!! bwe!! bwe!! tis doom day or sit down on the bare floor sobering like a baby incapable of saying what causes him/her distress.

Looking back at the whole thing now I am somewhat surprise that I, together with almost all those present withstood what our ears heard. Well one of the Senior members told the gathering quiet frankly that he was giving us five minutes to make up our minds or that he was going to confiscate the ballot boxes, What confiscate the ballots boxes?, yes you heard me right, confiscate the ballots boxes, the sense I make out of his next statement is that there was a more pressing programme organized for some alumni of the hall and national best farmers over the years, our confusion was threatening the success of this programme and so we had to decide quickly. 90 percent of student present bitterly reject his remarks but he ordered that all materials connected with the election be transferred further within the hall and by extension a transfer of the crowd as well. His wishes came to pass and so under the guidance of the formidable chief porter the voting materials where relocated, this according to some, is not permitted by the halls constitution. At the new site( around Excel Collections LTD) we were informed that the elections where going to continue and that some personnel of the Ghana police service had been called in to abate the tension and thus ensure perfect peace prevailed this time around ( some students say this was done far back in the afternoon around 12 noon) but so far as I am concerned during my entire time there and on leaving the place around 7.00pm there was no sign of a single police officer at the scene and so the elections carried on without them but under the partial supervision of our no-nonsense chief potter who saw to it that peace prevailed---at least at the time I was leaving, there where no serious disputes, only sections of students engaged in small group talk.

This simple or may be not so simple election has taught me several things as well as given me a firsthand account as to how rough things can get at a polling station. Are these incidences just a fraction of things that might be seen come December 7 when the whole nation goes to the polls?, may God forbid it!!!.

So what should have been the right thing to do? for you can do a right thing in the wrong way. My personal opinion is that first and foremost, those who identified the suspect should have allowed him to vote and then shortly afterwards apprehend him before he has the chance to put the ballot paper in the ballot box, then find out who he had voted for. Afterwards his ID card should have been demanded to determine if he was even a student of the university or a member of the Akuafo hall, after which he should have been sent straight away without hesitation, delay and interference to the legon police station and interrogated to determine whether he was instructed to rig by a contestant and if so who where his cronies. I must state that the Electoral commissioner showed very little interest in resolving this case may be since he was busy issuing ballot papers, but then as sure as I did vote myself I can confidently say that it was this same electoral commissioner that gave me 6 ballot papers(for the various positions) and this was after I had shown my ID card to confirm that I was an affiliate of the Hall, had my name checked in a student hall register, had my right middle finger marked with indelible ink before being given 6 ballot sheets by the EC, after that my finger was checked for the indelible ink mark by a polling agent before I left to secretly select the candidates of my choice and then proceed to place the ballots papers into the respective ballot boxes. Therefore by what miraculous means or supernatural secrets did this fellow succeed in getting ballot papers without an indelible ink mark on any of his fingers? And if it is factual that the suspect was seen earlier on voting then by what wonder did he achieve this also?, how forgetful was the person responsible for marking his finger with the indelible ink and how was it possible to outwit the agent that was checking for the indelible ink mark of the finger after it had been given?.

While engage in further conversations with some students who clearly had been there for a long period than myself, I learnt that preceding the encounter I witnessed was one of similar mischief , according to the report there was a student who attempted voting but was quickly identified by vigilant observers as a member of a different hall, upon confrontation this guy dropped his ballot papers and took to his hills as if running a 100 meter sprint, never again to be seen there, since I was not there at the time I cannot confirm or deny this report, but if this where true how was it possible that such a person came into the possession of ballot papers for an Akuafo Hall JCR election?

Further more the entrance to the potters lodge of the main hall should have been locked and students directed to use other entry/exit points, this would have gone a very long way to decrease the increasing number of student around the polling station especially areas somewhat close to students officiating the elections. The next thing was to have at least one member of the Ghana Police Service present at each polling station---even though I heard from some students that this idea was brushed under the carpet the night before by the current JCR executives-----how much would it have cost to employ the services of 3 police men from the Legon police station less that 3km away from the Hall?

One rumour that may serve as a platform for conspiracy and “necessary rigging” was that the current JCR administration had been stuck with astronomical issues of fraud which would within a few minutes be exposed by the incoming executive and as such these or some of these executives in desperation to escape foreseeable prosecution as well as avoid perpetual disgrace resulted to striking up a deal with one JCR presidential candidate to help him come into office in exchange that he covers up their dirty tracks and does not bring their misdeeds to light and public ridicule. If this was true it may explain the intense vigilance from the “disadvantaged groups” during the election, the result of which are the aforementioned circumstances.

So then fellow Farmers of this Great Hall are we safe?, where then is the way forward?. Evil gets done when good men and women do nothing. Thank you for reading.