Deputy General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mustapha Gbande, says the Ejisu by-election underscores the need for a roundtable discussion on the preparation of the Electoral Commission (EC) for future elections.
His comment follows the Member of Parliament for Kwadaso Constituency in the Ashanti Region, Dr Kingsley Nyarko, being caught on camera handing over an envelope suspected to contain cash to some Electoral Commission (EC) officials at a polling center in the ongoing by-election at Ejisu.
In a viral video trending on social media, Mr Nyarko was seen surreptitiously pulling the white envelope from his pocket and placing it on the table in front of the EC officials.
Subsequently, the EC withdrew the two temporary staff after many raised the alarm.
In an interview with JoyNews‘ The Pulse, Mr. Gbande pointed out that the incident highlights a concerning trend where individuals can attend electoral meetings and exchange envelopes without facing any repercussions, underscoring the need for accountability in such matters.
“And so there is a need for us all to have a round table discussion to strengthen the electoral commissions to be well prepared for the 2024 elections because ideally this is a very chaotic situation that can cause a lot of disorder at voting centers when it is not done by an ordinary Ghanaian but a sitting member of parliament, so I was surprised that the electoral commissions captured in their letter that saying that he is some person, he is not some person, he is a member of parliament for Kwadaso who is doing that,” he said.
The Deputy General Secretary stated that the NDC’s absence from the election, even in an NPP stronghold, coupled with their struggle to secure victory, serves as evidence that Ghanaians have lost faith in the current government.
Mr. Gbande emphasised that this serves as a lesson for all NPP appointees, urging them to exercise prudence in election spending and to begin strategizing for the potential transition of power in the upcoming December elections.
“Again, their stronghold is quite insane; in the stronghold of the NPP, we have projected an apathy level of 52% or 50%, and the voter turnout is relatively low. It depicts the scientific preposition that when your government is in power, your strongholds are likely to be happy.
“What this synopsis mean is that even in the NPP stronghold, the people have still not seen the impact of the government. Until this election, there was no single monumental project that the NPP could pinpoint that was impacting the lives of the people as much as it was their stronghold”, he stated.
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