Bright Ofori Ampofo, Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Bortianor-Ngleshie-Amanfro Constituency, has dismissed claims that participants in Monday’s demonstration against the suspension of Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo were paid by the party.
His response follows public concerns over the large turnout at the protest, which some critics speculated was incentivized.
Speaking on Channel One’s Newsroom on Monday, May 5, Ampofo stressed that the protest was a spontaneous grassroots response to what many believed was an act of injustice.
“When injustice is going on, everybody should be worried… The mobilisation—we just had to go to our grassroots, tell them what is going on, and the fact that we cannot keep silent about it and we need to speak up brought out the numbers,” he explained.
He challenged the notion that such a crowd could have been assembled through financial inducement.
“You saw the numbers on the street. Which millionaire can pay all those people on the street? That is not it. It is not just paying somebody to come for a demonstration; it is about the conviction and the reality that is staring us in the face that there is something we needed to do,” he stated.
Reflecting on the 2024 election outcome, Ampofo acknowledged the NPP’s defeat but maintained that the party remains Ghana’s largest political force.
He attributed the loss to voter apathy among NPP supporters, many of whom, he said, now regret their decision to abstain from voting.
“They think that the bad state of NPP is still better than the best state of NDC,” he added.
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