Parliamentary Candidate (PC) of Amenfi Central constituency on the ticket of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Joana Cudjoe Gyan, has been accused of forging documentation to secure her position as PC.
Gyedu Frimpong, a native of Amenfi Central made this claim whiles presenting a petition to the Electoral Commission (EC) to reject her nomination forms.
The petition said Mrs Cudjoe contested the National Democratic Congress (NDC) parliamentary primaries to be elected as the parliamentary candidate for the Amenfi Central Constituency.
Mrs Cudjoe had to be a bearer of a national voters’ identification card which is a requirement to qualify for national primaries elections.
“In the purview of paragraph 2 of this petition, Mrs Cudjoe was mandatorily required to indorse her voters identification number to complete the Amenfi Constituency nomination forms and also present a copy of same to the regional executives,” it said.
The voters’ ID submitted by Mrs Cudjoe had 11 digits instead of the regular 10 digits every valid voters’ ID card should have, as required under the Public Election’s Regulations.
The petition said Mrs Cudjoe had two different voters ID numbers on the numbers on the membership ID card she used to complete her nomination forms (i.e. 67610125841 and 67610125891); “The voter ID number given to Joana Cudjoe is the voter ID for one Seidu Bala (6761012589) and one digit was added to the number (1).
“Again, for the avoidance of doubt, I have attached copies of the findings made by the Amenfi and Bantama constituencies of the NDC and all other supporting documents that led them to the irresistible conclusion that Madam Joan Cudjoe fraudulently forged her voter ID card number in order that she will be eligible for the NDC primaries (as an aspirant),” it said.
The forgery of an official document with intent to evade the requirement of the law or to defraud another person is regarded a criminal offence in Ghana.
“From the foregoing, all documents annexed to this petition leads every reasonable mind to the irresistible conclusion that Mrs Cudjoe forged official documents (the two voters ID numbers) that she presented to the Amenfi Constituency in order that she may be made eligible to contest the parliamentary primaries and same ought to be investigated and prosecuted,” it stressed.
The petition stated that Mrs Joana Cudjoe intentionally forged her NDC party card and back-dated same so she could be eligible to contest in the party’s primaries.
