VZCZCXRO1201
PP RUEHMA RUEHPA
DE RUEHAR #1448 3190920
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 140920Z NOV 08 ZDK
FM AMEMBASSY ACCRA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7236
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RHMFISS/CDR USAFRICOM STUTTGART GE PRIORITY

UNCLAS ACCRA 001448 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR AF/W 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: GH KDEM PGOV PHUM PINS PREL
SUBJECT: GHANA ELECTIONS: BUSSING STUDENTS FOR POLITICAL 
GAIN 
 
¶1. (U)  SUMMARY.  Members of the opposition National 
Democratic Congress (NDC) party in Cape Coast physically 
prevented a group of university students from transferring 
their voting district to this university town in Ghana's 
Central Region early this week.  According to NDC party 
officials, the students had been bussed from campus to the 
local EC.  An NDC official said that the buses were paid for 
by Kennedy Agyapong, the ruling New Patriotic Party's MP from 
the Assin North district of Central Region, which borders on 
the Ashanti Region.  The NDC members successfully stopped the 
students from changing their polling stations, but police had 
to intercede to prevent violence.  END SUMMARY 
 
¶2. (U) On a trip to Cape Coast on Tuesday to speak with 
regional party officials and the Regional Electoral 
Commission director, Emboffs stumbled into a partisan 
conflict that had just erupted. The opposition NDC accused 
the ruling NPP party of trying to rig the election for Cape 
Coast's member of Parliament (a seat for which there is no 
incumbent and which the NDC is favored to capture) by bussing 
large numbers of students who were registered in their home 
constituencies in the NPP stronghold Ashanti Region to 
transfer their votes to Cape Coast.  (NOTE: Cape Coast is a 
community with a large number of college and university 
students who have the choice of registering to vote either in 
their home constituencies or where they attend school. END 
NOTE). When the NDC got wind of the busloads of students 
arriving at the Metropolitan Electoral Commission (EC), they 
summoned party faithful to assemble at the EC to protest the 
mass transfer.  Confronted by the NDC protesters--who 
reportedly had been joined by non-partisan community members 
fed up with students playing such a large role in determining 
their political fortunes--the EC suspended the exercise. 
 
¶3. (U) The Central Region's regional minister (a political 
position appointed by the President) appeared at the protest 
and was jeered by the crowd who accused him of masterminding 
the vote transfers.  Police arrived on the scene shortly 
thereafter and escorted the regional minister away from the 
increasingly vociferous protest. 
 
¶4. (U) A regional organizer for the NDC, located at their 
Cape Coast office, told Emboffs that even though it was legal 
for voters to transfer their polling place, the mass bussing 
by the ruling party was a move that they could not accept. 
If individual students want to vote in Cape Coast, he said, 
the NDC would accept that, but this was a blatant partisan 
intervention.  They alleged that Kennedy Agyapong, the NPP's 
member of Parliament from a neighboring Central Region 
constituency, had paid the students and provided the 
transportation in an attempt to help the NPP's Cape Coast 
parliamentary candidate win the election.  (NOTE: Central 
Region is a crucial swing area in which the NDC hopes to make 
substantial gains in this year's election. END NOTE).  The 
NDC official also expressed concern when another party 
official informed him that an NPP rally was planned that 
evening for a location near where the NDC's supporters would 
be gathering. 
 
¶5. (U) Emboffs next called on Samuel Tettey, regional 
director of the Central Region Electoral Commission, who 
acknowledged that the EC had suspended the transfers.  He 
planned to meet with both parties in the hope of arriving at 
an amicable solution, but said that the EC was opposed in 
principle to mass transfers by any political party.  When 
asked about reports that the central Electoral Commission had 
been releasing funds to district ECs as much as 3 months 
late, he conceded that had also been the case in Central 
Region.  "We have had to buy some things on credit," he said, 
"bu petrol stations and the like know that we will come 
through with the funds we owe."  He said, however, that his 
regional office was totally prepared for the election and he 
expected no problems with the process. 
 
¶6. (U) On the drive back to Accra late Tuesday afternoon, 
Emboffs ended up behind a large NDC campaign truck with loud 
speakers blaring NDC campaign songs and slogans.  We 
purposely remained behind the truck for several kilometers to 
gauge reaction along the road.  While not a scientific study, 
it is worth noting that support from villagers, cyclists, 
motorists, and vendors along the route was positive, 
enthusiastic, and exuberant. 
TEITELBAUM