Disappointed presidential candidate of the Ghana Freedom Party (GFP), Akua Donkor has accepted her disqualification from the 2016 presidential elections, throwing her support to the incumbent, President John Mahama.
Showing no signs of feeling disheartened, Akua Donkor more popular for comedy said she will do everything in her power to get the president re-elected.
Her endorsement comes as no surprise as the 51-year-old farmer who has been full of praise for the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government and full of criticisms for his main challenger, New Patriotic Party (NPP) candidate Nana Akufo-Addo.
Akua Donkor was disqualified for improperly filing her nomination forms. Her forms showed her running mate is 18-year-old not 40 years as required by the constitution.
She is one of 13 presidential candidates whose nomination forms were rejected for failing to meet any of the six key criteria for qualification to contest the December 7 presidential elections.
Together with other disappointed aspirants, Akua Donkor came to the headquarters of the Electoral Commission (EC) at Ridge in Accra seeking an audience with the chairperson of the Commission, Charlotte Osei.
There is a heavy police presence at the EC headquarters in Accra.
United Front Party (UFP) presidential candidate, Akwasi Addai, popularly known as ‘Odike’ has a special case with the EC. Although he was not disqualified, the EC also did not approve his nomination.
Charlotte Osei explained that “the Commission has been served with court processes challenging the membership and candidacy of Odike by some members of the United Progressive Party (UPP)”.
“The processes seek to restrain the Electoral Commission from issuing, accepting and registering Mr. Odike to contest the 2016 presidential election as the flag bearer of the UFP.
“The Commission is, therefore, unable to accept Mr. Odike’s nomination forms until the matter in court has been concluded. We hope that Mr. Odike and the UPP would resolve the matter by October 14 after which date the Commission would be unable to process the nomination,” the Commissioner said.
Odike broke away from the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to form the United Progressive Party. But after the party’s national officers say they have dismissed him, Odike broke away again to form United Front Party in 2015.
The business tycoon is at a lost at the EC’s decision to freeze his presidential ambitions because of the court case.
He maintained that he was duly elected as the UPP presidential candidate and also filled his forms diligently.
“So for the Electoral Commission to ask me to go to court to clear myself is neither here nor there” he expressed in frustration.
He said the four-day grace period handed him is unrealistic because he cannot force the court to quickly determine the outcome of the court case.
“Can I go to court and tell the judge to adjudicate on my case and come out with a verdict… I don’t have the power of courts so for them to give me four days I don’t get it” he complained.
Presidential candidate of the Reform Patriotic Democrat (RFD) Kwabena Adjei was also at the premises of the Electoral Commission.
His forms were rejected because two persons who endorsed his forms are not registered, voters. They allegedly guilty of registering multiple times and the Commission has asked the Police service to investigate them for electoral offenses.
He said there was no way he could have known that his endorsers are not legitimate voters.
If the EC had provided a provisional voters register to the EC as it promised, perhaps he could have known which voter is legitimate.
He explained that although the EC invited him last Friday to correct some mistakes on the nomination forms, the commission never drew his attention to the identities of the illegal registrants.
“My brother, how would I know?” he said.
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