Fallout From NDC Akwatia Elections; Baba Jamal Fingered

Member of Parliament (MP) for Akwatia Constituency in the Eastern region, Baba Jamal Ahmed, has been accused of being behind the confusion and violence that characterised the National Democratic Congress (NDC) constituency executives� election in Akwatia on Saturday, September 13, 2014. The NDC sources who witnessed the incident told Today that Mr. Baba Jamal was alleged to have ordered police officers to arrest three �disgruntled� executives. According to the source, Baba Jamal, who is also a deputy Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, branded the three Akwatia NDC executives as �anti-Baba Jamal� thereby accusing them of causing violence and indiscipline at the NDC constituency and polling elections. The Akwatia NDC MP, the source noted, initiated such move ostensibly to pave way for his sponsored candidates to win their respective positions. The source went on to explain that the situation was to enhance the retention of the MP in the 2016 parliamentary primaries of the party. But when his favourite candidates could not win, the source said, Baba Jamal ordered his boys to cause violence thereby marring the whole voting process which was supervised by officials of Electoral Commission (EC). But in a telephone conversation with this reporter on Monday, September 15, 2014 Mr. Jamal debunked the allegations, saying �I�m a law abiding citizen and I cannot do anything to cause electoral violence in the country.� Instead he accused the Constituency chairman of the party in Akwatia of being responsible for the arrest of one person whose name he did not mention for destroying a ballot paper of one candidate. He continued that another unqualified candidate was also arrested by the police for voting in NDC executive constituency and polling agents� elections. The arrest of the third person, deputy minister added, was not connected to any electoral indiscipline. However, he explained that that person�s arrest was as result of reckless driving. He therefore insisted that he has no hand in the arrest of the three persons, emphasising �no tension or violence characterised the polls� as was reported by Daily Guide. �Even after the arrest of these indiscipline men the matter was settled amicably and they were freed that Saturday. ��we were surprised by the report in Daily Guide that three persons have been arrested by the Akwatia police in the Eastern region for allegedly snatching ballot boxes during the NDC constituency and polling station elections,� he indicated.