A member of the communication team of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Courage Makafiji Nunekpeku, has disclosed the supposed strategy the NDC deployed to stop efforts by the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) to steal the Assin North by-election.
According to him, the NDC deployed teams at all the polling stations to monitor the activities of the NPP, particularly their engagements with officials of the Electoral Commission of Ghana (EC) and possible voting buying schemes close to the stations.
Makafiji Nunekpeku, who was the leader of the team at the polling station at Bramha DA Primary School, said that his team was able to stop the NPP from engaging in buying votes close to the polling station and also allegedly caught the former general secretary of the NPP, John Boadu, trying to induce officials of the EC.
“A team was put up to manage every polling station, and I was the leader of the team that was sent to Bramha DA Primary School. We got to the polling station at 5:00 am, and around 7:00 pm we saw people bringing in some huge ‘Ghana must-go’ bags, which were taken to a house nearby.
“We didn’t know what was in the bags, but later we were told they were full of money. We also realised that anytime someone came to the polling station, they were taken to that house before s/he comes to the polling station. So, we went there and told them that this can’t happen 50 metres close to where the voting was taking place. There was commotion there, and the police came to stop it.
“… some hours later, there was this long convoy of about 10 vehicles, led by John Boadu, the former secretary of the NPP... He (John Boadu) went to the presiding officer and gave them canned malt first, then he pulled out a bundle of money from his pocket and gave it to the guy. Immediately, John Boadu gave the money to him, I confronted him and told him he could not be doing that,” he narrated in Twi in an Accra FM interview on Friday, monitored by GhanaWeb.
He said that after confronting John Boadu, he (the former NPP general secretary) told him that the EC official was his in-law whom he had not seen for a long time and that was why he was giving him the money.
The NDC communicator added that as the confrontation was going on, another NPP woman came to tell him that his money was on the way coming, so he should stay calm, but he rebuked her.
He added that the confrontation led to the intervention of the police, who seized the money as evidence.
A video of the incident was played during the interview, and the police could be seen taking money, which is supposed to be the bribe, from an official of the EC.
About the Assin North election:
According to the Electoral Commission's announcement, James Gyakye Quayson garnered a total of 17,245 votes, representing 57.56% of the total votes cast.
His closest contender, Charles Opoku of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), received 12,630 votes, accounting for 42.15% of the votes.
Bernice Enyonam Sefenu of the Liberal Party Ghana (LPG) secured 87 votes, which represented 0.29% of the overall tally.
The by-election in Assin North was held to fill the parliamentary seat left vacant following a legal battle that questioned Quayson's eligibility to hold office due to dual citizenship concerns.
Watch the interview below:
You can also watch this episode of People & Places here:
Former general secretary of the NPP, John Boadu, accused of tryig to induce EC officials
