‘We must all condemn it’ – Agbana slams cash displays in NDC regional polls as Asiedu Nketiah urges police to arrest vote buyers
ACCRA, Nov. 15 – Ketu North MP Edem Agbana has condemned the open display of cash and other items by some aspirants in the National Democratic Congress (NDC) regional executive elections, as outgoing National Chairman Johnson Asiedu Nketiah urged the police to arrest anyone caught buying votes.
The calls come as the governing party wraps up regional elections across the country, which have produced new chairmen in several regions.
“Monetisation of our politics”
Speaking on The Big Issue on Saturday, November 14, Mr Agbana said videos and pictures circulating on social media of aspirants openly holding cash and other inducements went against the party’s values.
“I want to make a passionate appeal to the aspirants. As a government that is trying, and as a party that is social democratic by ideology, we want to plead with them regarding the open display of cash and other things,” he said, Citi Newsroom reported.
“I think the monetisation of our politics is a very big concern to many of us. Seeing videos and pictures of people openly holding some of these items is something that we must all condemn,” he added.
He urged contestants to campaign on their competence and expressed hope that the elections would be peaceful, free and fair.
Asiedu Nketiah: Treat vote buying as a crime
Mr Asiedu Nketiah, speaking to JoyNews, called on the Ghana Police Service to act against vote buying in party elections, saying national law should not be subordinated to party rules, Graphic Online reported.
“It is not a bad thing if anybody wants to give party people something. But if it happens in a way around elections to suggest that we are just buying positions, then it is not acceptable at all in a democracy,” he said.
“State action will truncate whatever party action will be taken if you commit a crime. I am calling on state institutions. We in party leadership have our responsibility to caution, to apply the party laws but the party laws are not strong enough to deal with crime,” he added.
He said that where a crime is committed, state institutions should not treat it as an NPP or NDC matter and wait for a party chairman to act.
Source: Citi Newsroom; MyJoyOnline; Graphic Online; GhanaWeb.
Featured image: Oye News GH graphic.
