Baba Jamal Is Hot

Some residents of Akwatia, in an interview with Daily Guide over the weekend, have requested the National Democratic Congress (NDC) candidate in the forthcoming extended elections at Akwatia, Baba Jamal, to honourably throw in the towel in order to save himself from further embarrassment. Most of the people interviewed at the town center on Saturday rooted for the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) candidate, Dr Kofi Asare, because they see Baba Jamal as the person who had caused a lot of 'discomfort' for the people of Akwatia with the infamous legal battle over the six polling stations that did not have their results declared as a result of the disruption of elections there. Daily Guide's investigations revealed that Baba Jamal will find it extremely difficult to overturn a deficit of 3,079 in the December general elections with just 4,626 votes in a town that is fairly balanced in political party affiliation. At the time of this paper�s visit, supporters of Baba Jamal in the Zongo area were seen morose with the general belief that the 'fight' would be a tough one for them. Baba Jamal himself who is obviously peeved over the Supreme Court ruling on Wednesday could not respond to the suggestion that he should throw in the towel, but said he was not going to say anything concerning the election unless his lawyers asked him to; and referred the Daily GuideE to rather contact his lawyers for their view on the upcoming elections. There is also the likelihood of trouble-making from any losing side if Baba Jamal decides to contest the six polling station elections, our investigations have revealed. Even though the Electoral Commission (EC) has not come out with any date for the 'surplus' elections since the ruling on Wednesday, the candidate of the NPP, Dr Kofi Asare has already sprung into action organising his arsenal for the ultimate 'kill'. Baba Jamal and two others, Basil Ahiable and Samuel Abrokwah who ran as independent candidates and are seen as appendages of NDC, had wanted the elections to be conducted in all the 89 polling stations in the constituency; but their hopes were dashed with the Supreme Court's ruling since the EC and the NPP parliamentary candidate had maintained all along that the elections be held at only the six polling stations where there was trouble. In the remaining 83 polling stations where counting was done, NPP's Dr Asare had 16,889 while NDC's Baba Jamal had 13,810. The total number of votes at the six disputed polling stations are as follows: Presby JHS-1,183; Yuroba Mosque 'A'-920; Yuroba Mosque 'B'-883; Lorry Station'A'-610; Lorry Station'B'-626 and AME Zion Church'A'-404. Daily Guide also found out that the constituency executives of the NPP were locked up in a meeting with the candidate who was being referred to as an honourable Member of Parliament to be. In an interview with the NPP candidate, he said his people were not going to be complacent at all to ensure that the NPP wins the seat convincingly. According to the NPP candidate, there were rumours that his opponents were planning to create mayhem again, and that his 'men' would not allow themselves to be intimidated again. �We are peace-loving people and believe in democracy, but we shall not allow ourselves be intimidated,� he stressed. He urged security personnel who would be deployed to Akwatia on the voting day to do their work professionally and not allow themselves to be used by politicians. He also indicated that he would resist any attempt to change the original voters� register used for the December elections. The NPP candidate urged chiefs in the area to lend their support to ensure that there is a peaceful election this time round so that the erroneous impression the Akwatia is a 'no-go' area would be erased.Dr Asare was full of praise for his party members and his constituents for the tremendous support they showed throughout the legal battle. "I particularly want to express my profound gratitude to our flag-bearer, Nana Akufo-Addo and Mr Osafo Maafo for their encouragement and wonderful support". This paper�s attempt to speak to some constituency executives of the NDC proved futile as visits to the homes of the Constituency Chairman and the Constituency Secretary met their absence.