The opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has alleged that the just ended parliamentary primaries of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) was riddled with vote-buying in some electorates.
According to Sammy Gyamfi, the National Communications Officer of the NDC, there was also a troubling lack of observance for COVID-19 safety protocols adding, the ruling NPP party appears to have a different set of rules from everybody else.
Speaking at the party’s 4th edition of a weekly press briefing on Monday June 22, 2020, Sammy Gyamfi said; “The alarming level of vote-buying and opulence we saw in the NPP this time around is unprecedented. We have never seen this level of ostentation in our body politics before and that should give every democracy-loving Ghanaian, genuine cause of concern.”
He added; “Even more bizarre were reports of how social distancing, wearing of face masks, and other critical COVID-19 preventive protocols we denied and thrown to the dogs as delegates congregated in their numbers, mingled and interacted, including wild jubilation in the full glare of the police who are supposed to enforce the law.”
Delegates of the NPP on Saturday June 20, 2020, voted to elect parliamentary candidates for 168 constituencies. A total of 374 aspirants took part in the exercise of which 325 are men and 51 are women contested.
The exercise is the second phase after the first phase of the primaries came off in September 2019 in constituencies with no sitting Members of Parliament.
