The Electoral Commission (EC) has declared the results of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Walewale parliamentary primary rerun null and void after an unknown individual disrupted the sorting process and destroyed many of the ballot papers.
Gabriel Manu, the Electoral Commissioner for Walewale, briefed journalists on Monday about the situation, explaining that the next steps would need to be determined by the party. He described how the disruption unfolded: “We started, and everything went very well. We finished voting, and after the voting, we did the sorting. Just when we were about to finish the sorting and do the counting, a certain man from nowhere came in, took the ballot papers, and destroyed most of them.”
The police acted swiftly, arresting the suspect, who is currently in custody. Manu added, “The police managed to arrest the person. He is right now in police custody, and we salvaged some of the ballot papers that had been damaged.”
However, the damaged ballots made it impossible to declare a winner. Manu explained, “We called the two sides… After the sorting, we realized that some of the ballot papers are badly damaged in such a way that you cannot determine if they are for candidate A or B. We have to stop there for the party to take the decision… We couldn’t determine the winner today.”
Meanwhile, the Ghana Police Service has restored order in Walewale following the disruption. Kamara Bawah, who is accused of damaging several ballot papers, is assisting with the investigation as security in the area has been intensified to prevent further disturbances.
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