NPP vote buying: Bawumia’s camp responds to allegation of paying regional executives, others GH¢20,000

The executive secretary of the Alliance for Footsoldiers Advocacy (AFFA) of the NPP, Kwaku Takyi Adomako, a.k.a. Sir Obama, has refuted allegations that the camp of the Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, is paying delegates of the party to influence their decision for the upcoming primaries.

According to him, a supposed document from the camp of Bawumia that showed a breakdown of payment to the delegates of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) is fake.

Speaking in an Okay FM interview on Thursday, which was monitored by GhanaWeb, Sir Obama, who is said to be a member of the vice president’s camp, added that the kind of money being mentioned is ridiculous and cannot be afforded by anybody.

“They have concocted blatant falsehoods and they have thrown them to the media, and unfortunately, we have some people who are believing this. I want to reiterate this morning that there is not an iota of truth in what has been published by some anonymous persons.

“In any case, is it not funny looking at the kind of money being quoted in the letter, that we are giving regional executives GH¢20,000, constituency executives GH¢10,000, constituency coordinators GH¢1,000 and polling station executives GH¢500?

“Can you pay this amount of money across the 275 constituencies of Ghana? If you are paying each delegate even GH¢500 multiplied by an average of 200000 polling station executives, you are going to pay a huge amount of money. Who can afford such an amount of money?” he said in Twi.

He also said that members of the Bawumia Must Win (BMW) team have not held any meetings to discuss the asserted payment.

He added that the said document was forged by political opponents of the vice president to give a wrong impression of him.

Meanwhile, the NPP Member of Parliament (MP) for Subin, Eugene Boakye Antwi, has said that financial inducement will not affect the outcome of the party’s upcoming presidential primaries.

Speaking in an interview with Okay FM on April 19, 2023, he explained that the NPP's tradition of selecting its flagbearer is based on merit, message, long service, and loyalty and not on financial considerations.

He further expressed his belief that the upcoming election is not about money but about the candidate's message and track record of service and loyalty to the party.

"The kind of tradition that we live with is not about the money that determines who becomes a flagbearer or an MP but is about the message. From President Kufuor up till now, all the delegates have voted based on the message, long service, and loyalty—those are their criteria.

"So, I don't see any change now because the party that I know doesn't change easily. So, when it is time, everyone needs to go and sell his or her message…So if someone says, I have given TNT, money and all that, those things don't count during the voting process; what counts is one's message to the delegates or the voters…because a similar thing happened just in 2007, and it is not that far," he added.

The NPP has scheduled its presidential primaries for November 4, 2023.

The likes of the former Trade and Industry Minister Alan Kyerematen Assin, Central MP Ken Agyapong, Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, the former Food and Agriculture Minister, Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto, ex-Mampong MP Francis Addai-Nimoh, and former Regional Cooperation Minister Dr Kofi Konadu Apreku, are expected to face off in the race for the flagbearership position of the NPP.

Watch Sir Obama’s interview in the video below:

Meanwhile, watch the latest SayItLoud episode on GhanaWeb TV below:

IB/OGB