After 48 hours of close of polls, the expectation of the Tema Central electorates has been dashed as the Electoral Commission is yet to declare the winner of the seat.
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) is eager to retain the seat, which has been its stronghold since the formation of the constituency in 2012, holding the seat for three terms.
The National Democratic Congress (NDC) is also determined to add the seat to its numerous ones captured in the Greater Accra Region.
That led to some tension in the constituency as both parties were bent on taking the seat.
On Sunday there was chaos at the Chemu SHS, which served as the collation centre for the constituency, as NDC supporters insisted that their candidate, Ms Ebi Bright, be declared the winner, giving the security a tough time.
Reinforcements of police officers were sent to the collation centre to maintain order.
Collation was subsequently postponed to Tuesday as announced by Mr Manasseh Ofosuhene Asante, the Tema Metro Electoral Officer, noting that the postponement was an agreement between the Commission, the police regional commander, and parliamentary candidates due to the volatile situation.
The collation exercise, however, had to be done on Monday after the EC gave a directive for all collations to be conducted.
The Tema Regional Police Command, which was serving as the new collation centre, saw bigwigs of both the NPP and the NDC trooping to the place to give support to their candidates, Mr Charles Forson, and Ms Ebi Bright, respectively.
After several hours of collating, the parties could not agree for a declaration to be made as of 1930 hours Monday.
This was because of some pink sheets, which the NDC and the independent candidate said they did not have copies of, even though the NPP agent had copies.
While the NPP side demanded that the figures from the said pink sheet be added to the total, the NDC disagreed and called for the declaration of the result, advising the NPP to go to court after the declaration.
The presiding officer of of the said polling centre was, thus, asked if he pasted a copy of the said result at the centre, which he answered in the negative.
Based on that, Mr Rockson-Nelson Dafeamakpor, Member of Parliament for South Dayi, who had been at the collation centre since morning, quoted the constitutional instrument for the election, which stated that a copy of the result should be pasted at the polling station, which the presiding officer did not, therefore, the figures from that centre could not be added.
The Tema Metro Electoral Officer, however, stressed that “not pasting it does not invalidate the result.”
The delay in declaring the result led to the supporters of the NDC rushing into the collation centre. The police, therefore, had to move the EC officer, pink sheets, and laptops to a safe place.
