[ASU] Letter to Dr. Adeyanju

[Fletcher Ziwoya]

I hear some people are experiencing difficulties opening the attachment I 
sent from Prosper. Here with the letter pasted:

March 3, 2009

428 Carriage Hill
Athens, Ohio 45701
Tel: 740-274-2041
Pt340808 at yahoo.com

Dr. Matthew Adeyanju
School of Public Health
Ohio University
Athens, Ohio

Dear Sir:
ANNULMENT OF ELECTION RESULTS FOR ASU PRESIDENCY

I by this letter call for the annulment of the results of the presidential 
election of the African Student Union held on February 28, 2008 between 
8:30 pm and 10 pm. My decision is occasioned by events surrounding the 
conduct of the election which I furnish herewith:

First of all, in the interest of fairness and transparency, I demanded 
members of the Electoral Commission to utilize the list of qualified voters 
by calling individuals to cast their vote one at a time. But they objected 
with the reason that it was not part of the stipulated regulations. Lo and 
behold when voters were invited to cast their ballots, there was a needless 
and avoidable scuttle to cast their ballots. As a corollary, the number of 
ballots casted outnumbered the number of voters on the voter list, which 
was also compiled without recourse to any guidelines.

Secondly, what was supposed to be a secret ballot turned out to be a 
manipulation of process where some individuals who had already ticked their 
chosen candidates decided to pass the ballot paper on to others, 
influencing them in whatever way possible. This in fact undermined the 
principles of "confidential choice".

Thirdly, my plea to the Electoral Commission to make provisions for those 
who may not be on campus during the weekend to cast their ballots by proxy 
fell on death ears. It is even possible for us to utilize our oak ID to 
vote we take the simple step collecting names of all African students (or 
as it is normally  put, ASU members), and allow them to send their votes to 
a designated email address for collection, verification and announcement.

Finally, considering the fact that elections have become hotspots on the 
continent, it is imperative that we the future leaders of the continent 
learn to conduct contests of this sort in a manner depicting the highest 
levels of fairness and transparency, and never allowing our personal 
judgments and biases to obscure our judgment on what is fair and 
transparent. Would it not be fairer to work from the premise of how to 
empower more African students to get involved in the process and to cast 
their votes, than to consider first how to thwart some from casting their 
ballots?

I therefore call for the annulment of the ASU presidential elections and 
request an independent body to take charge to conduct a new poll for the 
ASU presidency.

Thank you for your attention and cooperation.

Sincerely,
Prosper Tsikata
Communication and Development

Cc: The Out-Going President
ASU
Athens, Ohio