“Defectors often cause more difficulty than disinterested disbelievers”- Neal A. Maxwell
To a very large extent, you can describe the failed presidential aspirant for UG-SRC, Alfred Kumi Ababio’s endorsement for Slyvester Amoako as a defection.
Alfred Kumi Ababio was the main candidate for the NPP campus youth wing, TESCON until he was disqualified after failing to meet the CGPA requirement of 3.0. TESCON subsequently endorsed Otting Awuah Daniel after Kumi’s disqualification.
Many would have thought, after briefly enjoying support from TESCON, he would have supported the new TESCON candidate or probably stay neutral (which in my opinion would have been a wiser decision).
Arguably Alfred Kumi had a strong support base in the build-up to the election before his disqualification. Many tipped him to win the Presidential race. He invested a lot of time and money in his campaign, It was therefore sad to see him disqualified.
If there is anything more painful than seeing your crush do a sleepover with the guy you least expected, it will probably be posting posters all over campus, having the trendiest video and campaign photos only to be disqualified, like it happened to Kumi.
Alfred Kumi endorsed Sly and Kezia in a video because according to him, ‘’I see them ready to work, having the willingness and heart to make the difference’’
What took him too long to see that Slyvester Amoako was ready to work? Did he realise the only candidate with a female running mate had the willingness and heart to make a difference after his disqualification?
Rumors are rife that he has been promised the office of Local National Union of Ghana students president should Sylvester win the elections. If that was his motivation, then that’s unfortunate.
You’ll all expect any endorsement to be based strictly on competence, feasible and realistic policies and not merely ‘seeing’ the readiness of a candidate to work.
What at all is does he [Kumi] see, that we don’t?
I don’t have a problem with who Kumi chooses to endorse, the problem is his reason behind the endorsement.
Sylvester Amoako Kwashie is a smart guy, he nominated a female running mate- A decision I admire so much but he needs to be weary of such a move.
However, in a related development, Software Developer Stephen Ato Forson must be more honest with students at the University of Ghana. After alleging that some candidates attempted to bribe him, he must come out to name and shame. The burden of proof lies with him now.
The 2014 UG-SRC election he conducted was widely disputed and ended at the student court and saw him detained by the National BNI… days later he was ‘vindicated’.
It will surprise you to know that even at the University of Cape Coast, where Stephen Ato Forson’s software is used for conducting SRC elections, students there don’t trust the credibility of his software.
Some weeks ago, Stephen Ato Forson revealed that some aspirants for this year’s UG SRC elections have already contacted him, in an attempt to get him to rig the elections in their favour.
He however refused to reveal their identities, he rather asserted that he is not corrupt, because if he were, he would have not mentioned this in the first place, an assertion I find grossly inaccurate.
Mr. Stephen Ato Forson was able to name and shame Mikdad Mohammed for making attempts to bribe him to rig the elections, why can’t he do same for the candidates who have approached him so far with the same demands?
Until such that Mr. Stephen Ato Forson releases the names of candidates who contacted him, I believe strongly that his credibility is in doubt and as such the authenticity of election results from his software, can’t be trusted.
What should be the way forward ?
The manual voting system is our best bet forward towards a credible election. With the necessary logistics, and adequate security personnel we should have a transparent election.
A budget of GH12500 should be enough to hold a credible manual voting system election. I admit the manual voting system comes along with its own challenge, the most pressing having to do with how secured the ballot boxes will be.
On the election day, it is possible to hire police officers, who will be stationed at certain flashpoints on campus and other polling centres noted for notoriety.
The UG SRC electoral commission should take cues from the just ended KNUST SRC elections with regards to publicity from the EC as well seek the advice from the previous EC headed by Rexford Opare.
You can argue about the credibility of the elections that brought Ms. Esinam Seade into office, but there’s one thing that’s never in doubt about that election, and its the competence shown by the then EC boss Rexford Opare. I doff off my hearts for him. The current EC should be humble enough to seek advice from him.
Stephen Ato Forson has nothing new to offer, especially after a shambolic first showing his voting system should be disregarded. Centration tendency to focus on buy paper just one feature of a problem, neglecting other important aspects
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