<<Print>>*At Secret Meeting With Ghana’s Ambassador; Herald Vindicated Once Again!
The Herald’s diplomatic sources both in Ghana and neighbouring Togo, have revealed, a top secret meeting between Ghana’s Ambassador, Johnny Kwadwo and the Executive Secretary of Togo’s Independent National Electoral Commission, Professor Kpatcha Takonda Kossi, during which, the latter denied releasing his country’s voters’ register to anyone.
The Togo EC boss, insisted that it was impossible for anyone to lay hands on Togo’s Voter’s Register, as the document was a sovereign Legal Document, kept firmly under guard.
According to The Herald’s diplomatic intelligence, Professor Kpatcha Takonda Kossi, explained that, the Togolese Electoral Code, strictly forbids giving the Register to anyone. Consequently, they never give the document out to any Togolese or other individuals under any circumstances as that could expose it to alteration and manipulation.
The secret meeting, took place in Togo on Thursday, August 20, 2015, just two days after the New Patriotic Party (NPP) lavish press conference at the plush Alisa Hotel in Accra, with both Nana Akufo-Addo and Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, NPP flagbearer and running mate respectively, claiming they have in their custody the authentic Togolese voters’ register, and nearly 80,000 names found in it were also found in Ghana’s Voters’ Register.
Professor Kpatcha, also stressed that even as a Diplomatic Mission, the commission was unable to give a copy to our Mission.
The Professor, therefore, denied categorically that anyone from Ghana had obtained Togo’s Voters Register from the country’s Independent National Electoral Commission.
Officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, have confirmed last week Thursday’s meeting to The Herald.
The outcome of the meeting means that the claims by Nana Akufo-Addo, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, as well as the NPP cannot be relied upon, as it lacks trust and confidence. Simply put, they lied to justify their demand for a fresh Voters’ register.
The revelation also put, Abdul Malik Kweku Baako, Managing Editor of New Crusading Guide on Metro TV‘s Morning show hosted by Randy Abbey, that he had seen a Togolese Voters register from NPP sources and they looked authentic, in doubt. He had also claimed seeing a correspondence between the NPP and the Togolese EC.
Meanwhile, Togolese in general, appear quite offended at the very idea that they have nothing better to do than go and vote in Ghana. Most of them, were of the view that Ghana’s Population of over 25 million was over four (4) times Togo’s population of 6 million people.
To them, the idea that some political party in Ghana, could leave their bigger population behind, and seek for voters in a country with less numbers, was quite outstanding to them.
The Herald, last Friday reported that its preliminary findings are that, the NPP document supporting its claim of foreign invasion of the Ghanaian voters’ register, was suspicious, fictitious and fraudulent.
The Herald’s investigations corroborated by officials of Commission Electorale Nationale Independante (CENI), the actual Voter ID cards from the Togolese electoral body, reveals that the information from the NPP Presidential Candidate and his running mate, was a desperate ruse to score cheap political points.
The Herald can report that, the Voters Identity Cards (ID) presented by the NPP, looks different from what was issued by CENI in 2013 and 2015. The Togolese cards, have overwhelming security features unlike that of Ghana.
Among the security features on the Togolese Voters’ ID cards, are the national flag of Togo, the First Name of the voter, his surname, as well as other names. It also has the voter’s occupation, the venue and the date on which the ID card was issued.
Additionally, the Togolese ID card, has the residence of the voter, sex and a unique voter ID number. Of significant importance, are the signature of the officer, who issued the card, and the thumbprint of the voter on the same card.
Another momentous thing The Herald discovered is that, the Togolese voter’s ID card was plastic and with a unique Barcode reader to fully secure the intelligence of the card, unlike the Ghanaian voters’ cards.
The Ghanaian voter card, is an ordinary laminated paper with inscriptions such as “Electoral Commission of Ghana- Voter Card, the Polling Station Code, date of issue, Voters ID number, age, sex, name, and the date of registration.
The document, put out by the NPP as coming from Togo, only shows pictures and numbers attached to them. The unique security features, such as the year of issue, barcode, occupation, residence, sex, place of issue and the signature of the President of CENI captured on the cards, were missing, thus leaving huge doubt about its authenticity.
Abdul Malik Kweku Baako, Managing Editor of the New Crusading Guide on Metro TV ‘s Good Morning Ghana show hosted by Randy Abbey, told the world that, there appear to be two documents in circulation, the one with the polling numbers and the one without it. He said, he had seen and taken custody of the document with the key security features.
According to him, the documents with the sex and polling station numbers of the voters, have been shown to him by highly-place officials of the NPP.
He said, he had been shown a letter written by his trusted NPP friends to the Togolese authorities in the CENI, demanding questions about the register.
Shockingly, the vociferous Managing Editor, went ahead to ask the EC to prove the NPP wrong, negating the cardinal principle of “He who alleges must prove”. He also did not produce the document on the show, as he normally does.
On his part, the Director of Elections of NPP, Martin Adjei Korsah, said they deliberately withheld all the features on the ID cards they presented during the press conference for obvious reasons.