The Vote Buying Has Commenced In South Ablekuma

Wonders, they say, will never end. As the pace towards the NDC primaries gathers momentum in the South Ablekuma Constituency, aspirants for the NDC candidature for the 2012 General Elections are leaving no stone unturned to emerge winners in the party’s primaries to lead the party.

Interestingly, some have started adopting underhand dealings, which have become characteristic of contests of this nature, to outwit their competitors. While some of the young aspirants are going round the constituency selling their messages and telling the delegates and the wider constituents why the incumbent does not deserve a second term, the incumbent has started deploying the easier approach to his campaign which will cost him dearly at the end of the day. At a recent meeting in the house of one of the old guards of the party, the incumbent Member of Parliament for South Ablekuma constituency, Fritz Baffour, clandestinely donated a corn mill to a group he names “the caucus.” The idea is that they can use the corn mill to generate income to support themselves and their families and in return offer their support to him.This raises questions about who benefits from the proceeds and who does not benefit. This posturing of the incumbent has the potential to pitch others who may not benefit from this largess against those perceived to be in his camp. One of the NDC constituency executives intimated to me that “all of a sudden, I have started receiving text messages from a man who would bark at me rudely after he won the elections. We wait to see if his gimmicks work when we convoke to cast the vote of the people. Money or text messages will not change the minds of the people, I believe. The harm has already been caused.”

We hope Fritz Baffour would be telling the people what he has done with the four years invested in him than going around trying to buy the people. Let’s wait and see whether he would change tactics or would continue this way.

Gustavo Amar Clottey

NDC, Korle-Gonno