A parliamentary aspirant of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Anyaa-Sowutuom constituency, Janet Keturah Naa Ashong, is reportedly taking steps to seek justice from Nogokpo following her defeat in the party's last primaries.
According to a report filed by the Anchor newspaper, Janet has alleged fraud and deception as her reason for seeking justice from the Nogokpo shrine in the Volta Region.
The report explained that Janet Keturah was alleged to have been manipulated into paying substantial sums of money to secure her victory in the primaries. She claimed that the constituency chairman, Kwesi Arhin, as well as other coordinators within the NDC caucus, demanded various payments to supposedly ensure she wins the slot, and that in addition, on the day of the primaries, she allegedly handed over an amount of GH₵20,000 to the chairman for different reasons.
Janet Keturah is also reported to have revealed that she trusted the chairman's assurance of honesty and believed that he would fulfill his promises by ensuring her victory in the election, however, despite her financial commitments, she did not emerge as the winner as pledged by the chairman and instead, one Emmanuel Adotey Allotey claimed the victory and will represent the NDC in the upcoming 2024 parliamentary election.
The losing aspirant has vowed not to let the chairman's injustice go unaddressed, especially considering similar incidents involving other aspirants in the past.
“After the election, he called my driver to come for my money and I told the driver not to, but I will go to Nogokpo for my money. And I am ready for this thing. Nothing is going to change my mind. And I won’t forgive him. I gave the money to the chairman and the chairman said go and give this coordinator this money, go and give this coordinator this money,” the Anchor quoted her to have said in an interview with the newspaper.
The report also quoted another unsuccessful candidate named Amadu Babagida, who allegedly attempted to win the said chairman's favour through gifts of a car and cash but also failed, which has since led to the two losers (Janet and Babagida) declaring their intentions to run as independent candidates in the 2024 election.
The Nogokpo shrine is known for its association with seeking justice in controversial matters. The aggrieved aspirant is said to have already visited the shrine, as reported through audio recordings on various NDC WhatsApp platforms cited by the newspaper.
She revealed how monies were paid to the chairman hours to the elections.
“After collecting that money, four hours before the election, my constituency chairman called me around 2am. Keturah hmmm, I am seeing the election to be an ’open election.’ I asked him how, are you the EC? Are you the one going to vote? You have only one vote, so how did you know that everybody can win?”
She added, “Not knowing, our constituency chairman has gone for an air-conditioned car with money from one aspirant, so he was personally going around, telling the coordinators to channel their votes to that aspirant.
“So, they asked him can’t you see the way Keturah is working, this girl can help us. Let’s go for her. No, no vote for Babagida, but God being so good, at the end he thought Babagida was going to win the election, but he didn’t win and so another person won.”
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