Accra, July 2, GNA - The Ghana Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana) on Wednesday accused factionaries of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) of flagrant use of public platforms paid for with public funds to campaign for their candidates.
"The People's Assemblies held in the Lawra and Jirapa Constituencies in the Upper West region turned into NPP rallies. The incumbent Member of Parliament for Lawra in particular used the platform paid for with public funds to campaign for himself and the NPP flag bearer," a CDD-Ghana pre-election monitoring report signed for Justice V.C.R.A.C. Crabbe, Chairman of the Coalition of Domestic Election Observers (CODEO) stated.
"In like manner, the incumbent District Chief Executive for Jirapa also used a similar event in his Constituency to canvas support for his parliamentary bid," the CODEO report on the pre-election scenario for June said.
The report, which was compiled by field observers of CODEO under the auspices of CDD-Ghana also focused on growing concerns about delay in the commencement of the limited voter registration exercise by the Electoral Commission (EC).
CDD-Ghana said it deplored the use of public platforms paid for with public funds by public officials contesting the December polls for personal and or partisan campaigns.
CDD-Ghana therefore urged the officials to stop the abuse or abdicate their position to avoid the conflict of interest.
The report also indicated that NPP parliamentary primaries were characterised by allegations of lack of transparency in the nomination process and imposition of candidates by party executives.
"Vote buying was rife in some of the primaries. Use of items such as clothes, television sets as well as huge sums of money were distributed to delegates to solicit their votes," the report stated. CDD-Ghana therefore called on political parties especially NPP to clarify the ambiguities surrounding its qualification criteria to avoid controversies and the resort to ad hoc rules.
It urged EC to expedite arrangements for the commencement of the limited voters' registration exercise and keep the public duly informed to avoid throwing the electoral calendar off gear.
The report indicated that campaign by the various political parties was relatively peaceful except the road accident involving some jubilant supporters of the main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Northern Region.
CDD-Ghana further appealed to the political parties to strictly adhere to road safety regulations in their campaigns and jubilation to avoid unwarranted fatalities.
