Which party is Gabby Otchere-Darko alleging to have hired a troll firm to win 2020 elections?

A senior member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has alleged that a major political party has hired the services of a troll consultancy firm to help it win the upcoming elections.

According to Gabby Otchere-Darko, the party through the firm is creating a false impression that they are in what he calls “a comfortable lead” ahead of the December polls.

In a post made by him on Twitter on September 14, 2020, cited by GhanaWeb, the private legal practitioner said, “Elections are fought and won on the ground. A major political party has contracted a troll consultancy firm to create a false sense that they are in a comfortable lead. Do your best on social media but politics is local, touch base on the ground.”

The allegations come barely a few weeks after a report by a group called, Open Source Investigators (OSI) emerged that the then-presidential candidate for the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo hired a firm, KRL International, to 'lobby and influence' his 2016 election campaign.

The firm was headed by Riva Levinson an alleged specialist in ‘dirty lobbying’ and influence operation, as a communications and general political consultant for Akufo-Addo’s campaign.

KRL International although admitting being engaged by Nana Akufo-Addo for his campaign rubbished reports of being paid from government’s coffers.

The Finance Ministry on its part also denied the reports in a statement.

The KRL firm noted that their continuous work with President Akufo-Addo was under a different contract with the Finance Ministry engaging international stakeholders and media houses on behalf of the Ministry for the past three years.

The firm was said to have supported the promotion of initiatives such as One District One Factory (1D1F), Planting for Food and Jobs, Ghana Beyond Aid, and resource mobilisation for COVID-19.

Meanwhile, the only major political party competing in the upcoming 2020 elections besides the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) is the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC).

See Gabby Otchere-Darko's tweet below: