Defeated Parliamentary Candidate for the Effutu Constituency who contested on the ticket of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), James Kofi Annan has claimed that the Effutu voters’ register was bloated, as it contained names of foreigners from other constituencies.

Describing it as “Effutu ECOWAS Register”, Mr. Kofi Annan indicated that many NDC supporters were detained and prosecuted for resisting the registration of those perceived to have been imported from neighbouring constituencies.

The party in the constituency had written to the police seeking to protest the results of the general elections conducted on December 7, 2020.

But the Police said the group’s request cannot be granted because it is unable to provide security for the demonstration due to “post-election events, multifaceted security operations for the festive season and events preceding the inauguration of the president-elect on January 7, 2021.”

However, in a Citi News interview, Mr. Kofi Annan insisted that the current register of over 62,000 voters is a product of importation of people from a number of constituencies.

He alleged the just ended elections in the Effutu constituency was compromised to favour the New Patriotic Party (NPP) candidate, Alexander Afenyo-Markin.

“I want to say to the EC that, we don’t want the Effutu ECOWAS register. We need a register for the original citizens of Effutu. If you are not a citizen in Effutu, don’t come and write your name here. Make sure you transfer your name to the appropriate place. We don’t want ECOWAS register,” he said.

At the close of polls on Monday, December 7, 2020, James Kofi Annan of the NDC obtained 18,802 votes, whilst Alexander Afenyo-Markin of the NPP won with 33,554 votes.

The NDC’s flagbearer, John Dramani Mahama has formally filed a petition at the Supreme Court to challenge the outcome of the polls.

He, however, said the NDC will continue to use protests to “demand the enforcement of the rule of law and protection of life and property of the good people of Ghana.”

According to him, going to the court does not prohibit the party from organizing protests against the declared results.

One of the party’s legal team members, Abraham Amaliba, explained that the protests and the election petitions are two separate issues that must be distinguished.