December 20, 2012
When the clock strikes that chord to tell the time, it is a clear manifestation that time has just gone on. But time will only pass us by, if we fail to hear the tick-tock of the clock and fail to do what we have to do.
Nothing gets late than the moment we realise that we have regretted not having acted as early as we ought to have done.
Internal Auditors demonstrating a keen listening ear for the tick-tock of the clock also know that time gone by can be time lost if we allow time to pass us by. We cannot afford the cost of complacency. I won't even talk about lethargy and its impact. Oh why have I not even spoken about taking responsibility for our actions? That's just it. We cannot afford the cost of any negativity with our work.
Therefore, as we resolve to be the Internal Auditors of the future by being there - when it even gets thought of, when it even gets planned, when it even gets done, and when the mopping up and reports are being put together or even ignored – we will be in pole position to be able to tell them (management and colleagues) that the time of reckoning is also nigh….. and we were there.
We love our role as Internal Auditors
…. and we wish all our stakeholders, friends and colleagues a most bright future of collaboration, support, excellent advisory services and fully wired assurance services that will surpass the expectations of all who care about Internal Audit.
With the best of Wishes and Love
Eric N. Yankah
Thursday, December 20, 2012
Friday, December 7, 2012
Election 2012: Bla Elik in Tema Reporting 05
Friday 22:00hrs
Just finished my Milo and remembered one thing.. and that is to say
shame to all those who were shouting that we have to prevent
violence!! Of course, we need to but who said tha we were headed for violence.
Everything about this election has put all those people to shame.
Ghana has not burned ( or is it burnt?), Ghana will not burn and is
not even contemplating burning.
I will be back.!! Once again, For now, Good night!!!
BTW, You can read my quadrilineal blog and catch up with the
excitement of the previous posts on http://bla-elik.blogspot.com
Bla Elik
Just finished my Milo and remembered one thing.. and that is to say
shame to all those who were shouting that we have to prevent
violence!! Of course, we need to but who said tha we were headed for violence.
Everything about this election has put all those people to shame.
Ghana has not burned ( or is it burnt?), Ghana will not burn and is
not even contemplating burning.
I will be back.!! Once again, For now, Good night!!!
BTW, You can read my quadrilineal blog and catch up with the
excitement of the previous posts on http://bla-elik.blogspot.com
Bla Elik
Re: ec needs public co-operation
the Party Agents in all the affected areas, whih agreed to adjourn, made the EC Officials put all the remaining materials in the ballot boxes and they all put their individual numbered seals on every possible point.. so the ballots will be safe over night.
It is a major cock up in my view because I know from business continuity and disaster recovery practice that if there is a one-off event like an election, you cannot allow certain contingencies from occurring in the first place. There should have been backups of the machines at every and each station. There should also have been backup batteries, back up memory or storage cards. Thinking that there will be a certain probability of failure was not good enough an excuse to keep the back-ups at centralised locations especially if the logistics planning to replenish anguished centres was not going to be as smooth as I thought they will do.
It all boils down to planning, planning, then testing, testing.. indeed.. then simulation, simulation and I thought that lessons from the special voting day will have removed some element of complacency.
Bla Elik
At 08:43 PM 12/7/2012, Yaw B wrote:
It is a major cock up in my view because I know from business continuity and disaster recovery practice that if there is a one-off event like an election, you cannot allow certain contingencies from occurring in the first place. There should have been backups of the machines at every and each station. There should also have been backup batteries, back up memory or storage cards. Thinking that there will be a certain probability of failure was not good enough an excuse to keep the back-ups at centralised locations especially if the logistics planning to replenish anguished centres was not going to be as smooth as I thought they will do.
It all boils down to planning, planning, then testing, testing.. indeed.. then simulation, simulation and I thought that lessons from the special voting day will have removed some element of complacency.
Bla Elik
At 08:43 PM 12/7/2012, Yaw B wrote:
Yes, Uncle, things could have gone better. Spent the morning in Agona Kwanyarko where things seem to have gone smoothly. One of the boys in my house just return, will have to go back tomorrow; E. Legon hasn't been as good.
On Friday, December 7, 2012, K wrote:
- I just watched on Joy FM, a beleaguered Electoral Officer at the Caprice polling station in Accra do his best to handle an almost impossible situation. He calmly explained to the teeming crowd that there were about 300 people who had not been able to vote today. He advised them to come back tomorrow Saturday and they would be able to vote. Meanwhile, the polling agents of the parties would accompany the police and the election officials to Kotobabi Police Station, where the ballot papers would be kept overnight. The crowd protested but appeared to agree.
- This appeared to be a pragmatic process and if it works, all fine and good. But there are too many difficulties possible. Suppose recalcitrant police officers try to prevent the polling agents from staying with the ballot all night? When the polling agents are at the police station, would the police treat them with respect and not try to bugabuga them with instructions? Are the polling agents equipped to stay at the police station all night? Equipped with feeding facilities, for instance? (Hygiene we might forget about -- it's only 24 hours, after all!)
- In the final analysis, we have to conclude that the Electoral commission has been to stiff-necked about this election. It introduced a brand new electoral system; there were protests about the system's efficacy, which the EC ignored. The EC had the biometric registration to open its eyes to the possibility of its machines NOT working properly, but it doesn't appear to have taken any steps to forestall the massive failure of verification machiines, that has now occurred.
- Did the EC bite more than it could chew by adding 45 constituencies, which no-one particularly wanted, to the tally? Common sense suggests that if trouble can occur in two constituencies, then trouble in four constituencies will be twice as difficult to handle, doesn't it?
- Despite its failures, however, the EC needs public co-operation at this time, not blaming. The important thing is to manage the explosive situation as best as possible, so that the public will continue to have confidence in the electoral process. An analysis of what went wrong can be done afterwards, and those responsible for not anticipating and pre-empting the difficult situation duly punished.
- LET US HOPE THE NIGHT IS NOT QUITE AS DARK --FIGURATIVELY -- AS IT SEEMS.
Election 2012: Bla Elik in Tema Reporting 04
Friday 21:30hrs
What a day this has been. I am sorry that I could not get back to my
little box to tell my story earlier. Oh My Oh my. I wanted to do
some updates direct from the field but my little flat thing could not
connect to the net and now i has all but been overtaken by the events
of the day.
But you know, here is the day in perspective from my narrow bottle mouth.
The process of voting itself once you got a chance to do it took less
than 2 minutes in total. You show your card, they check it in the
order in which your name is written on the card.. so if your card
says Bla Elik Onuador for example, you had to be in the line for
Bs.. If it is written the Presbyterain way as Onuador Elik Bla or
Onuador Bla Elik, you went to the line for Os.... it was
simple. many people simply did not listen to the instructions of
the folks who periodically came along the lines or felt hat they had
queued enough in a particular line to change lanes - only to get to
the mouth of the line at the polling booth to be sent to the end of
the correct line. I did a simple thing that my daughter reminded me
about - I sent an sms to code 1413 with my polling station number and
about 2 hours later, I got a feedback confirmation about exactly
where and which line to join.. It saved me a ton!!! Noneheless, I
waited in line about 2 hours to vote. I even met a classmate of
mine who said he was called to the head of the line because he looked
like a senior citizen.. he offiered to take me to the place and I
said, I enjoy the euphoria of watching history unfold once
more.. remember what Kente4U just said earlier today.. its been 20
years, y'all !!!
well, I voted and I voted - one for presidential and then for
parliamentary. Then the burden appeared lifted from my
shoulders. Except tha I had my legs to contend with - because the
resident dictator was still in the other line - just because of her
wrong first name. whew, now I must say, I am damn lucky they used
the Eric.. She has a big S to start off her name. and it was a
cool one hour thirty five minutes of waiting. I mean
1h35m.......!!!! before she was done.
by this time, it was 4:40pm and I began to wonder what was going to
happen because one of the 5 stations in the yard had had a
verification machine failure for well over 5-6 hours. the others
including mine had experienced intermittent failures or
stoppages. well then I drove out to try and get some
kelewele (Arnold, eat your heart out!!) but alwas, setewa it was.
because all the kelewele sellers were probably in some queue
somewhere or they were afraid that election euphoria will force the
to give out free quality Kelewele. So with my legs in my car, I
returned to the polling station in my neighbourhood just on the
stroke of 5:00pm.. one of them had finished and so they commenced
sorting and counting.
But folks, as I drove around along the Spintex Road, I realised that
the turnout was really really huge this time around and that folks
were more than eager to get their mouth listened to via their
thumbs. Huge lines were the order of the day. This was of course
corroborated by the Radio and TV broadcasts.
Thankfully, the EC came out to say that if teh machines were not
available, and they also started so late, they could continue
tomorrow .. so Party agents, girded their loins to put their seals on
the ballot papers and materials. But some places, when the machine
arrived, the people said they were prepared to stay overnight if that
was what it took, and promptly, people went o their homes and brought
mobile lights, some brought their cars and turned on their headlights
to illuminate the grounds. What a determined people we are!!!
Some places of course did not have any problems and so they completed
at the appointed times,,, so as I write, the results have come in
paaa from many of the narly 26000 polling stations and it is clear
that the nail biting has been more than audibly settled.. It is a
two horse race between NDC & NPP In both Presidential and Parliamentary races.
Sadly Nduom is not likely to get back any of the money he invested
- I doubt with the trend of results coming whether he can get the
deposit refund from the electoral commission. Even in KEEA his home
constituency, the results were disastrous. the rest of the parties
(GCPP, PNC, CPP) are getting 1 or 2 in some polling stations.. UFP
and independent JOY are clocking a serious 0 in most places. in the
Parliamentary it is the same.. but NC Ayariga in a few places has had
like 5 or 7.. It is very bad. I have said it before that Ghana is
a two tradition town and that is NPP and NDC.. the Nkrumaists have,
in my opinion, been destroyed beyond repair in and via this
election. I am sorry, but I wonder how with all their gurus, thy
could not read the signs. Just their bickering for position was a
recipe for disaster as it clearly pointed out to the electorate that
they could not even patch a small set of organistaions... how could
they sustain and patch the diversity called Ogyakrom. Nkrumaists,
forget about the constitutional right of association and democratic
option for self-determination!!! Simply choose a tradition ( I am
sure you know which one without fighting over the choice of colour or
emblem) and align with it for the future..
Right now, even with a possible vote tomorrow in many areas, the die
is cast and the flow of results will continue.
This will be a very very tight race.. I am watching the trends!! in
most places, it is NDC & NPP criss-crossing each other with votes in
either of the races. some regions have also demonstrated strong
gargantuan results..but it looks like there are a great many swing
constituencies.. But like I said this morning.. It is still early days yet.
But I tell you, 2012 will be an election to remember.. when it is
all over, the biometric verification would be seen to have more than
contributed to the beauty of the Ghana political journey.. even if
the no verification, no vote has bitten a few people and refused them
the chance to vote in today's election. the machine could also
tell how many ballots should be in the box.. so when you open the box
after the voting, the total number of ballots including rejected
ballots must not be more than what the verification machine says.
This evening is an opportunity for all of us not to sleep.. because
counting has been completed some places, voting is goiing on in some
other places, others have adjourned till tomorrow morning.
let me end by telling yo a funny story at my polling station. This
young lady walks up to the polling officer, presents her card, is
checked correct, then she proceeds to the next official and is duly
verified with her for-finger on the machine.. She walks to the next
official, is given the Presidential, collects the ballot paper, folds
it there and then and walks to the ballot box, slots in the folded
ballot paper... then she walks to the next officer ( who is the
officer in charge of the parliamentary ballot papers) and asks in Twi
" nea EwOhe na me de min sa be tim so no" and which one will I have
to thumbprint? she was told, in Twi, eno na wo de akoshEmu no.. it
is the one you just slotted in ... so she asks the Polling
Official, Oh, so cant I get another one? she was promptly
dismissed... but she got to do the parliamentary. Her plain
unstamped ballot was among the rejected ballots.
I tell u. What a day, this has been!!
I am yet to eat my Milo with hot water!!!
I will be back.!! For now, Good night!!!
BTW, You can read my quadrilineal blog and catch up with the
excitement of the previous posts on http://bla-elik.blogspot.com
Bla Elik
What a day this has been. I am sorry that I could not get back to my
little box to tell my story earlier. Oh My Oh my. I wanted to do
some updates direct from the field but my little flat thing could not
connect to the net and now i has all but been overtaken by the events
of the day.
But you know, here is the day in perspective from my narrow bottle mouth.
The process of voting itself once you got a chance to do it took less
than 2 minutes in total. You show your card, they check it in the
order in which your name is written on the card.. so if your card
says Bla Elik Onuador for example, you had to be in the line for
Bs.. If it is written the Presbyterain way as Onuador Elik Bla or
Onuador Bla Elik, you went to the line for Os.... it was
simple. many people simply did not listen to the instructions of
the folks who periodically came along the lines or felt hat they had
queued enough in a particular line to change lanes - only to get to
the mouth of the line at the polling booth to be sent to the end of
the correct line. I did a simple thing that my daughter reminded me
about - I sent an sms to code 1413 with my polling station number and
about 2 hours later, I got a feedback confirmation about exactly
where and which line to join.. It saved me a ton!!! Noneheless, I
waited in line about 2 hours to vote. I even met a classmate of
mine who said he was called to the head of the line because he looked
like a senior citizen.. he offiered to take me to the place and I
said, I enjoy the euphoria of watching history unfold once
more.. remember what Kente4U just said earlier today.. its been 20
years, y'all !!!
well, I voted and I voted - one for presidential and then for
parliamentary. Then the burden appeared lifted from my
shoulders. Except tha I had my legs to contend with - because the
resident dictator was still in the other line - just because of her
wrong first name. whew, now I must say, I am damn lucky they used
the Eric.. She has a big S to start off her name. and it was a
cool one hour thirty five minutes of waiting. I mean
1h35m.......!!!! before she was done.
by this time, it was 4:40pm and I began to wonder what was going to
happen because one of the 5 stations in the yard had had a
verification machine failure for well over 5-6 hours. the others
including mine had experienced intermittent failures or
stoppages. well then I drove out to try and get some
kelewele (Arnold, eat your heart out!!) but alwas, setewa it was.
because all the kelewele sellers were probably in some queue
somewhere or they were afraid that election euphoria will force the
to give out free quality Kelewele. So with my legs in my car, I
returned to the polling station in my neighbourhood just on the
stroke of 5:00pm.. one of them had finished and so they commenced
sorting and counting.
But folks, as I drove around along the Spintex Road, I realised that
the turnout was really really huge this time around and that folks
were more than eager to get their mouth listened to via their
thumbs. Huge lines were the order of the day. This was of course
corroborated by the Radio and TV broadcasts.
Thankfully, the EC came out to say that if teh machines were not
available, and they also started so late, they could continue
tomorrow .. so Party agents, girded their loins to put their seals on
the ballot papers and materials. But some places, when the machine
arrived, the people said they were prepared to stay overnight if that
was what it took, and promptly, people went o their homes and brought
mobile lights, some brought their cars and turned on their headlights
to illuminate the grounds. What a determined people we are!!!
Some places of course did not have any problems and so they completed
at the appointed times,,, so as I write, the results have come in
paaa from many of the narly 26000 polling stations and it is clear
that the nail biting has been more than audibly settled.. It is a
two horse race between NDC & NPP In both Presidential and Parliamentary races.
Sadly Nduom is not likely to get back any of the money he invested
- I doubt with the trend of results coming whether he can get the
deposit refund from the electoral commission. Even in KEEA his home
constituency, the results were disastrous. the rest of the parties
(GCPP, PNC, CPP) are getting 1 or 2 in some polling stations.. UFP
and independent JOY are clocking a serious 0 in most places. in the
Parliamentary it is the same.. but NC Ayariga in a few places has had
like 5 or 7.. It is very bad. I have said it before that Ghana is
a two tradition town and that is NPP and NDC.. the Nkrumaists have,
in my opinion, been destroyed beyond repair in and via this
election. I am sorry, but I wonder how with all their gurus, thy
could not read the signs. Just their bickering for position was a
recipe for disaster as it clearly pointed out to the electorate that
they could not even patch a small set of organistaions... how could
they sustain and patch the diversity called Ogyakrom. Nkrumaists,
forget about the constitutional right of association and democratic
option for self-determination!!! Simply choose a tradition ( I am
sure you know which one without fighting over the choice of colour or
emblem) and align with it for the future..
Right now, even with a possible vote tomorrow in many areas, the die
is cast and the flow of results will continue.
This will be a very very tight race.. I am watching the trends!! in
most places, it is NDC & NPP criss-crossing each other with votes in
either of the races. some regions have also demonstrated strong
gargantuan results..but it looks like there are a great many swing
constituencies.. But like I said this morning.. It is still early days yet.
But I tell you, 2012 will be an election to remember.. when it is
all over, the biometric verification would be seen to have more than
contributed to the beauty of the Ghana political journey.. even if
the no verification, no vote has bitten a few people and refused them
the chance to vote in today's election. the machine could also
tell how many ballots should be in the box.. so when you open the box
after the voting, the total number of ballots including rejected
ballots must not be more than what the verification machine says.
This evening is an opportunity for all of us not to sleep.. because
counting has been completed some places, voting is goiing on in some
other places, others have adjourned till tomorrow morning.
let me end by telling yo a funny story at my polling station. This
young lady walks up to the polling officer, presents her card, is
checked correct, then she proceeds to the next official and is duly
verified with her for-finger on the machine.. She walks to the next
official, is given the Presidential, collects the ballot paper, folds
it there and then and walks to the ballot box, slots in the folded
ballot paper... then she walks to the next officer ( who is the
officer in charge of the parliamentary ballot papers) and asks in Twi
" nea EwOhe na me de min sa be tim so no" and which one will I have
to thumbprint? she was told, in Twi, eno na wo de akoshEmu no.. it
is the one you just slotted in ... so she asks the Polling
Official, Oh, so cant I get another one? she was promptly
dismissed... but she got to do the parliamentary. Her plain
unstamped ballot was among the rejected ballots.
I tell u. What a day, this has been!!
I am yet to eat my Milo with hot water!!!
I will be back.!! For now, Good night!!!
BTW, You can read my quadrilineal blog and catch up with the
excitement of the previous posts on http://bla-elik.blogspot.com
Bla Elik
Election 2012: Bla Elik in Tema Reporting 03
Friday 07:47hrs
The voting is a bit slow because of the verification step.. but not
to worry, it is too early to form any conclusion.. We will surely
fall into the rhythm as the day trudges on.
the Radio and TV stations are really standing up to the beat with
good spread on reporting.
It seems in many places across teh country, voting has not started as
of now.. either the materials are a bit late arriving or as I am
hearing on radio, one polling station in Tema Central (Comm 4 Police
station area) the ballot boxes are wet from yesterday's rains and the
papers are all soaked and so if the EC doesnt step in with new
materials, the folks may have a challenge voting today. IN Bukom,
Freeman Methodist Church Polling station, it appears that two of the
EC staff were late and they had to look for replacements so they may
start voting in the next few minutes at about 0800 or thereabouts..
but in all cases the folks are comporting themselves very very well.
In one or two places, it looks like where there are two polling
booths in the same area, the list is split into two groups by
alphabetical order (say A-J, then K-Z) and this is also in tone.
Logistics planning, back-up systems, tests of back-up systems, more
logistics planning.. A lesson we probably never complete.
But I tell you, the people are really really eager to vote. Delays
or no delays!!!
I will be back.!!
BTW, You can read my quadrilineal blog and catch up with the
excitement of the previous posts on http://bla-elik.blogspot.com
Bla Elik
The voting is a bit slow because of the verification step.. but not
to worry, it is too early to form any conclusion.. We will surely
fall into the rhythm as the day trudges on.
the Radio and TV stations are really standing up to the beat with
good spread on reporting.
It seems in many places across teh country, voting has not started as
of now.. either the materials are a bit late arriving or as I am
hearing on radio, one polling station in Tema Central (Comm 4 Police
station area) the ballot boxes are wet from yesterday's rains and the
papers are all soaked and so if the EC doesnt step in with new
materials, the folks may have a challenge voting today. IN Bukom,
Freeman Methodist Church Polling station, it appears that two of the
EC staff were late and they had to look for replacements so they may
start voting in the next few minutes at about 0800 or thereabouts..
but in all cases the folks are comporting themselves very very well.
In one or two places, it looks like where there are two polling
booths in the same area, the list is split into two groups by
alphabetical order (say A-J, then K-Z) and this is also in tone.
Logistics planning, back-up systems, tests of back-up systems, more
logistics planning.. A lesson we probably never complete.
But I tell you, the people are really really eager to vote. Delays
or no delays!!!
I will be back.!!
BTW, You can read my quadrilineal blog and catch up with the
excitement of the previous posts on http://bla-elik.blogspot.com
Bla Elik
Election 2012: Bla Elik in Tema Reporting 02
Friday 07:03
The day has finally started!!
After a 5 minute demonstration to show the electorate how to vote and how to avoid the spoilt ballots. My polling station has started work. Voter#1 has just been verified and has picked his presidential ballot. I am watching the throughput per person.. that is really the kicker to make sure that all 1000+ voters at my polling station can cast before the 5:00pm..
I am sure that will be the pattern across the country but I trust that all other stations would also have started. By the way I notice that mobile phone traffic is exceedingly high.. I am standing next to a friend and I cant even reach him.
I don't want to see voting at night and counting deep in the night either.
I will be back.!!
Bla Elik
The day has finally started!!
After a 5 minute demonstration to show the electorate how to vote and how to avoid the spoilt ballots. My polling station has started work. Voter#1 has just been verified and has picked his presidential ballot. I am watching the throughput per person.. that is really the kicker to make sure that all 1000+ voters at my polling station can cast before the 5:00pm..
I am sure that will be the pattern across the country but I trust that all other stations would also have started. By the way I notice that mobile phone traffic is exceedingly high.. I am standing next to a friend and I cant even reach him.
I don't want to see voting at night and counting deep in the night either.
I will be back.!!
Bla Elik
Election 2012: Bla Elik in Tema Reporting 01
Friday 06:26
The day has come!!! and what a start this will be!!!
This would surely be a huge turnout day. Al over the country the
queues started as early as 1:30am this morning. In my own polling
station in Community 18, Tema, it is already wow. just watching a
stion on TV, someone says she got to the polling station at 7:00pm
last night. Shiee!!!! People have not slept.. all in a bid to cast
their Vote
I know there will be very little by way of fracas,. Incidentally, I
wonder why people have spent so much time talking about how we have
to work hard to maintain the peace. because, I was wondering why we
have not spent time educating the electorate on the full rights and
responsibilities.
In just about 30 minutes from now, the die will be cast and the
process for determine who the next batch of leaders will be will
become cast in stone. No opinion polls will matter.. who
constitutes that X% of Ghanaians will not mater at all... it will
simply be a matter of the thumb talking.
yesterday, it was massive rains throughout the Accra area but that
rather has cooled down the temperatures not of tempers and emotions
but of the "climatic" temperatures under which we will vote
today. Exercising your franchise gives one a feeling that cannot be
described.. and this morning, I shall also join the teeming eligible
voter to do exactly that. Ii will be voting in the Tema West
Constituency where Sam Ofosu-Ampofo (NDC), Naa Torshie Addo (NPP) ,
Sue Adu-Amankwaa (CPP) among others whose names I don't remember are
vying for the Parliamentary Seat. As for the Presidential, we all
know who the contestants are.!!
Wise voting has been recommended by all the parties so each voter
will do his/her interpretation of whatever that means to them. The
public adverts this year were super creative and this time round, had
pointed response/rebuttal type TV adverts..some were just crass junk
but whatever opinion one has, no one can deny that this year,
communications and media has really been pushed to a good limit by
all the parties with facebook, web pages, twitter, sms via mobile
phones, TV, Radio, door to door, inanimate mannequins dressed in
party colours and human mannequins painted in party colours walked the streets
The rush to travel to the hinterland to cast votes brought Accra
Tema to a virtual standstill as all the lorry stations were just
choked ith travellers. The local flights have also been full since
yesterday even with the addition of additional flights by all the
domestic operators. It is my understanding that this morning, the
situation is the same as people are still struggling to get to their
hometowns where they registered to be able to exercise their franchise.
I even heard someone on radio saying that the parties should pay for
the empty buses to come from the hinterland to come to Accra to pick
the stranded passengers. I am just saying to myself.. haba!! this
will be stretching the matter too far. for all you know, the drivers
and their mates themselves dont want to miss their votes as
well. Today be Today!!!
The anxiety, the ecstasy, the pressure, the nail-biting, the wringing
of wrists, the koo-mi-ni-ni ....is helping the day start on a frying
pan. Hot as Bofrot, but soft on the inside!!!
so off we go.. this will surely be a huge turnout day and so it
should be. Ghana will surely confirm its credentials.. ... .I dont
want to use the expression "Beacon of African Democracy"!!
I will be back.!!
I dey go vote come!!!!
Bla Elik
The day has come!!! and what a start this will be!!!
This would surely be a huge turnout day. Al over the country the
queues started as early as 1:30am this morning. In my own polling
station in Community 18, Tema, it is already wow. just watching a
stion on TV, someone says she got to the polling station at 7:00pm
last night. Shiee!!!! People have not slept.. all in a bid to cast
their Vote
I know there will be very little by way of fracas,. Incidentally, I
wonder why people have spent so much time talking about how we have
to work hard to maintain the peace. because, I was wondering why we
have not spent time educating the electorate on the full rights and
responsibilities.
In just about 30 minutes from now, the die will be cast and the
process for determine who the next batch of leaders will be will
become cast in stone. No opinion polls will matter.. who
constitutes that X% of Ghanaians will not mater at all... it will
simply be a matter of the thumb talking.
yesterday, it was massive rains throughout the Accra area but that
rather has cooled down the temperatures not of tempers and emotions
but of the "climatic" temperatures under which we will vote
today. Exercising your franchise gives one a feeling that cannot be
described.. and this morning, I shall also join the teeming eligible
voter to do exactly that. Ii will be voting in the Tema West
Constituency where Sam Ofosu-Ampofo (NDC), Naa Torshie Addo (NPP) ,
Sue Adu-Amankwaa (CPP) among others whose names I don't remember are
vying for the Parliamentary Seat. As for the Presidential, we all
know who the contestants are.!!
Wise voting has been recommended by all the parties so each voter
will do his/her interpretation of whatever that means to them. The
public adverts this year were super creative and this time round, had
pointed response/rebuttal type TV adverts..some were just crass junk
but whatever opinion one has, no one can deny that this year,
communications and media has really been pushed to a good limit by
all the parties with facebook, web pages, twitter, sms via mobile
phones, TV, Radio, door to door, inanimate mannequins dressed in
party colours and human mannequins painted in party colours walked the streets
The rush to travel to the hinterland to cast votes brought Accra
Tema to a virtual standstill as all the lorry stations were just
choked ith travellers. The local flights have also been full since
yesterday even with the addition of additional flights by all the
domestic operators. It is my understanding that this morning, the
situation is the same as people are still struggling to get to their
hometowns where they registered to be able to exercise their franchise.
I even heard someone on radio saying that the parties should pay for
the empty buses to come from the hinterland to come to Accra to pick
the stranded passengers. I am just saying to myself.. haba!! this
will be stretching the matter too far. for all you know, the drivers
and their mates themselves dont want to miss their votes as
well. Today be Today!!!
The anxiety, the ecstasy, the pressure, the nail-biting, the wringing
of wrists, the koo-mi-ni-ni ....is helping the day start on a frying
pan. Hot as Bofrot, but soft on the inside!!!
so off we go.. this will surely be a huge turnout day and so it
should be. Ghana will surely confirm its credentials.. ... .I dont
want to use the expression "Beacon of African Democracy"!!
I will be back.!!
I dey go vote come!!!!
Bla Elik
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