Some angry delegates forced the Bolgatanga Central Constituency Chairman, George Ayanore, to exit the Sacred Heart Catholic Social Centre, a venue for the ongoing parliamentary primaries of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), for reportedly campaigning against the lawmaker for the area, Isaac Adongo.
It took a timely intervention from the security officers around to stop the furious delegates from doing anything further in their numbers as they descended hard on the retired engineer and hooted at him.
The enraged voters tried in vain to get as close as they wished as police officers encircled Mr. Ayanore who was dressed in a smock with an NDC branded muffler around his neck led him into a waiting car and took him away from the unmanageable scene.
“He was here, giving every delegate Gh¢50, this morning. He was still doing it; we didn’t say anything. They said if you are going to the ballot booth, you shouldn’t send phone there. He’s campaigning for ballot number two that’s Gamson. If he just sees you, he’ll give you Gh¢50 and say ballot number two. Why are you doing this? Meanwhile, you are a constituency chairman. You are not supposed to campaign,” ranted one of the irate delegates in front of newsmen.
Electoral Commission officials say 1,058 delegates are on the register to choose between Isaac Adongo, a financial consultant, and George Gamson, a tax consultant. Polls opened one hour late Saturday.
“The voter register was just one. The agents demanded for copies of the register at the time the communications centres had not opened. We were able to produce copies for them later. Voting was supposed to start at 7:00am but it started at 8:06am,” explained the Presiding Officer in charge of the polling centre, George Awuni.
The development was a frame-up - Constituency Chairman
Speaking to Starr News from an undisclosed location, Mr. Ayanore refuted the claims made by the delegates, saying the incident was a frame-up by his political antagonists within the NDC.
“Those people are not delegates. They just came to observe. They were not even supposed to be around there. What they said was just a complete frame-up. It is a complete frame-up. I never opened my mouth to talk to somebody about who to vote for. I’m the chairman and I’m supposed to be neutral. I support whoever will win. This is just an internal election. We are looking up to the general elections, not this one.
“In our rules, the executives are not supposed to campaign for anybody, for any of the candidates. We are so, so neutral. I’m very neutral. Ask people about me. I’m not a child; I’m a grownup. I’m a retired engineer. I haven’t done anything wrong. These are people who are not delegates. You know I contested with people. We were five who contested for the chairmanship. Definitely, people who didn’t want me to win are the people who are doing this,” said Mr. Ayanore.
Asked if he would seek any redress on the development, he replied: “For now, I haven’t thought of any action. But if there would be any action, well, maybe later.”
Fil photo: NDC supporters