Independent Presidential candidate urges EC to absolve him of forgery
Mr Kofi Koranteng, an independent Presidential aspirant, disqualified for forgery by Electoral Commission of Ghana (EC) in filing his nomination to contest in Ghana’s Election 2020, has prayed the Commission to absolve him of forgery.
He also urged the Commission to place him on the ballot paper to contest the polls, as he threatened to clear his name, seek justice, and be empowered to lead Ghanaians and torch out corruption from governance.
“I didn’t do any forgery,” he repeatedly said, in Accra, as he addressed a presser, to explain what he said was the EC’s wrongful disqualification to contest as presidential candidate in the next December 7 polls.
The EC on Monday, October 19, 2020, cleared 12 out of the 17 presidential aspirants who filed their nominations and disqualified five on the grounds of not fulfilling the expected requirements.
Mr Kofi Koranteng, who filed to contest as independent candidate, was among the five aspirants disqualified by the EC.
There rest are; Kwesi Busumbru (People’s Action Party, PAP), Mr. Agyenim Boateng (United Front Party, UFP), Mr. Akwasi Addai Odike (United Progressive Party, UPP), Mr. Kofi Gane, another independent aspirant.
Mr Koranteng denied forgery of names and signatures of 19 persons in the filing documents alleged by the EC, promising to cooperate fully in any investigation rather being labelled for an act he never committed.
“The claims of forgery in the entry documents by the Commission are false and misleading,” the independent aspirant said, explaining that “when we were informed about the errors in our entry, we quickly denied the charges and sought to make the needed corrections yet the Electoral Commission refused to address the corrections.
“We did not deliberately forge any signatures as suggested by the Commission.
“It is unlikely that we filed our forms and it later turned out to be signatures and names of executives of the Convention People’s Congress (CPP). How is that even possible? The process has been unfair and undemocratic and it is obvious the Commission wanted us off the ballot.”
He said the EC should place his name back on the ballot paper, by giving the same opportunity to correct errors as the EC pleaded from electorate to correct errors during the compilation of the election register.
“As a candidate, I will like to be given the same fair, sensible opportunity to correct the minor errors in the paperwork
Mr Koranteng detailed a number of events, stating what his team did to meet the requirements, yet was disqualified, adding that despite his readiness to be invited by the CID, that outfit was yet to invite him.
The aspirant called on President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, to apply the executive powers under the Constitution to direct the EC to have his name on the list of presidential candidates.
“Recently, President Nana Addo reiterated a line from my platform saying that Ghana is a beacon of democracy for Africa.
“If the sitting president honestly believes that, then it is incumbent on him to direct the EC to work with my campaign to correct the minor paper work errors to place my name back on the ballot.”
Mr Koranteng called on the EC to do all it could to ensure that the December 7 polls were free, fair transparent and peaceful.
“As the representative of the People’s Campaign for President of Ghana, I am asking that the EC give our campaign the opportunity to correct the small number of errors that have led to our disqualification from the ballot, which we contend were purposeful sabotage by those controlled by the ruling parties,” Mr Koranteng said.
He added: “In closing, we look forward to a democratic outcome that will allow us to appear on the ballot.
“We call on every Ghanaian to speak up and demand that they can vote for a free, independent candidate who offers a vision for the future.”
Source: GNA