If I have to pay money to go to Parliament I will stay at home – Solomon Owusu

          

                 _Mr Solomon Owusu

The Director of Communications of the United Party, Solomon Owusu, has condemned the rising incidence of vote buying in Ghanaians elections.

He said the practice is leading to a situation whereby people with deep pockets, instead of development ideas, find themselves in national elective positions.

Commenting on the reported widespread incidences of vote buying during the parliamentary primary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Ayawaso East Constituency, he said the phenomenon portends danger.

“The practice is becoming the norm with the two major parties. That is why we left the NPP, some people gave money and even weed to voters, yes- Ntampi…If I have to pay money to go to Parliament I will stay at home,” he said on Ghana National TV Big Issues on February 11.

He warned that if the practice is not curbed, Ghana’s democracy will suffer.

Meanwhile, Baba Jamal, who won the primary has been cleared by the Functional Executive Committee of the NDC to contest the March 3 Ayawaso East by-election on its ticket.

This was disclosed by the General Secretary of the NDC, Fifi Kwetey on February 10.

This followed the submission of the report on investigation into alleged vote buying during the party’s parliamentary primary on February 7.

Speaking to journalists after receiving the report, Mr Kwetey said, “The Committee could not annul the primary because the NDC Constitution contains no provision allowing annulment of primaries.”

He also cited time constraints in meeting deadline for filing of nominations by the Electoral Commission as the reason why Baba Jamal has to be presented.

“The decision to present Baba Jamal was influenced by time constraints, as the party must submit a candidate for the impending by-election,” NDC’s General Secretary said.

The Commission in a January 19 press release said “nominations would be received at the Ayawaso East Municipal office of the Commission, from Monday, February 9, 2026, to Wednesday, February 11, 2026, between the hours of 9 am to 12 pm and 2 pm to 5 pm on each day.”

Mr Kwetey revealed that the Committee recommended that the President sanctions other government appointees who participated in the primary, adding that, “The Committee is to be expanded to seven members to comprehensively address issues of inappropriate conduct during internal elections.”.

Earlier, speaking to the media after submitting the report On February 10, a member of the committee, Inusah Fuseini declined to comment on the details of the report.

He said the document is now the property of the party and its details will be shared with the public in due course.

“We had just submitted the report to the party. No, we can’t share details. Any report that we have produced is the property of the Functional Executive Committee. The party will communicate to the public what is contained in the report,” he stated.

All five candidates were invited and questioned during the investigation into the allegations of vote-buying.

Meanwhile, GhanaTrends sources at the Office of the Special Prosecutor confirmed that one of the candidates, Baba Jamal who is at the centre of the vote-buying and inducement allegations had been invited by the OSP for questioning.

The three-member committee was established by the NDC to look into claims that certain candidates were engaged in bribery at the party’s Saturday, February 7 parliamentary primary.

One of the allegations is that Baba Jamal, one of the candidates, tried to sway the votes of the delegates by giving them money, television sets, and other items to vote in his favour.

Although Baba Jamal has officially been declared winner of the election, the majority in Parliament have called for the results to be annulled, insisting that the party’s democratic values are against such acts and bribery.

However, constituency party executives have strongly opposed calls for the annulment.