Ashanti police investigate fake thumbprinted ballots
The Ashanti Regional Police yesterday picked up a receptionist of the Madison Lodge at TUC in Kumasi following the discovery of a number of thumbprinted supposed Election 2016 ballot papers at the hotel.
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Police action
The police action followed a report made by the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mr Bernard Antwi Boasiako (Wontumi), to the police that he had information that some thumb-printed presidential ballot papers had been hidden at the said hotel.
Following the report, the police stormed the hotel around 7 a.m. yesterday, and after a search they found three bags containing the supposed thumbprinted ballot papers which had been thumbprinted for President John Mahama.
The three bags were carried to the Kumasi Central Police Station for investigations.
Fake ballot papers
Meanwhile, the Ashanti Regional Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Mohammed Tanko, has told the Daily Graphic that the ballot papers retrieved from the hotel were fake, since they had no serial numbers and stamps behind them.
He said the Ashanti Regional Director of the Electoral Commission (EC), Mr Serebour Quainoo, had inspected the said papers and concluded that they were neither authentic nor from the EC.
Besides, he said, ‘blue ink’ was used to thumbprint the papers, as against the ‘black ink’ provided by the EC.
ASP Tanko said Mr Antwi Boasiako had further alleged that other ballot papers were hidden elsewhere and that he would lead the police to retrieve them.
When contacted for a comment, Mr Kwame Zu, the Deputy Ashanti Regional Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), said the NDC knew nothing about the said ballot papers.
