Some supporters of the Chief of Agric Nzema, Nana Nkansah Boadu, are anticipating their candidate will be declared winner of the Council of State election in the Ashanti Region.
A group of thugs believed to be aligned to the NDC’s Yaw Obimpeh disrupted the process which was at the sorting stage.
According to the campaign team of Nana Nkansah Boadu, the Electoral Commission counted majority of ballots cast in favor of their candidate before the process was disrupted.
But Joy News is unable to confirm whether the counting started after sorting the ballots.
Spokesperson, Lord Inusah Lansah, insists it was obvious their candidate won the majority of votes.
“If all delegates had cast their votes, 86 in total and Nana Nkansah Boadu was counted first, we were on the 47th vote when the chaotic scenes came in. It means that they had seen that Nana Nkansah Boadu had won the election authomatically,” he emphasized.
Meanwhile, some assembly members have threatened to refuse the endorsement of the President’s nominees for the various MMDAs.
Mr. Lansah said, “they have started vetting people vying for MMDCE positions, they will come to meet us at the local level”.
“If this simple exercise could not be done, how do you expect us to sit and confirm your nominees”, he added.
The Council of State Election in the Ashanti Region ended abruptly after some thugs alleged to be linked to the ruling National Democratic Congress disrupted the process, tearing apart ballot papers.
The heavily-built men overpowered police officers to gain access to the Electoral Commission’s table, where the ballots were being sorted.
It is alleged the NDC supporters were not happy with the ballot sorting which was believed to have gone in favor of the NPPs Council of Elders member, Nana Nkansah Boadu.
The police team deployed for the election was led by the Ashanti Regional Commander, DCOP Frank Abrokwah.
Some of the officers were stationed at the entrance of the residency of the Regional Coordinating Council where the election was held.
They screened and turned away persons who were not accredited to be at the premises.
It was the first point that our cameras caught the thugs who were challenging the authority of the police.
One of the 12 candidates for the election, Frederick Agyei, explained the EC restricted delegation of each of the candidates.
“They made it clear to us that each aspirant should come with four agents and they were the only people to be allowed to enter. My driver wasn’t allowed to enter and we accepted. I was surprised to see the thugs come in without accreditation”, he said.
The thugs were later seen at the inner perimeter where the election was held though they had no accreditation.
Former Municipal Chief Executive of Obuasi, Ofori Agyemang was seen with the thugs.
They approached the candidates’ tent to offer handshakes to the NDC regional Chairman Nana Akwasi and another candidate, Yaw Obimpeh, a former Chairman of the party.
It was at the sorting stage where these thugs disrupted the process. It is alleged the NDC former Chair, Yaw Obimpeh was losing the election leading to the disruption.
The men later followed the EC to forcibly take away the polling materials salvaged and destroyed them.
Leading candidates among the twelve are former Chairman of the NPP, Yaw Obimpeh and member NPP’s Council of Elders, Nana Nkansah Boadu.
Prior to the election, the process was characterized by partisan politics.