'NPP targeting to win sympathy votes with wife of slain Mfantseman MP' – Gyampo

Political scientist, Prof. Ransford Gyampo, believes that the decision by the New Patriotic Party for Madam Ophelia Hayford to succeed her late husband Ekow Quansah Hayford as the parliamentary candidate for the Mfantseman Constituency is nothing but a strategy to win sympathy votes.

According to him, the Mfantseman constituency seat is not a safe one for the party, hence, its decision to use such a means to maintain it in the 2020 elections.

Speaking on the Behind the Headline show, Prof. Gyampo added that the party’s strategy to play on the sympathy of the electorates is even seen in the date selected for the burial.

“Sometimes political parties use legitimate means to solicit for votes other times too, they may want to appeal to the sympathy of voters. In this particular instance when they know that the seat is not secured, what was politically wise for the party to do was to appeal to sympathy. So that was the reason why they decided to take the widow and that is why they have planned the funeral such that it will be held a week before the election,” he said.

The University of Ghana lecturer further criticiqsed the party for breaking customary protocols, saying that the widow should rather be mourning her husband, and not fight for political power.

"Even though they did it because they are looking for political power, in my view it’s a shear political move that sort of completely sacrifice our customary protocol, believes and practices. When a husband dies, the widow is supposed to mourn the husband. You may win but after 2020, it is not guaranteed of your continuous occupancy of that seat and by the time you may become awoken to that, you may as well loose yourself as a police officer,” he said.