The Super Delegates Conference of the New Patriotic Party has just concluded, and the campaign manager, Kennedy Agyapong, has brought up concerns about possible voter inducement.
Mr. Kwame Owusu claimed that a number of delegates had set up temporary lodging at a Kumasi hotel. But he wouldn’t say who the hopeful might be that the delegates were camping out for.
Speaking to JoyNews, he said, “I am saying that with certainty. The NODA Hotel is owned by a gentleman from my own village, Asotwi. People were camped there. I saw people camped. The name was not written Kennedy Agyapong or whatever, but whoever did it, whether it’s Ken or whoever, it’s just wrong.”
Mr. Owusu has stated that the time has come for the people of Ghana to “move with civility.” He claims that his team is not concerned about inducement because he sees it as a “normal process.”
But with the rise of technology and the focus on digitalization, he said, people shouldn’t have to camp out in one place to get information, especially when elections are coming up.
In response to the claims, NPP Director of Communications Richard Ahiagbah said there is no evidence to support the issue being raised. “He didn’t give us anything beyond the assertion that he saw people going in there, and so people going in there are being camped. But I don’t think that that is a sufficient basis for any investigation to be commenced.”
Dr. Bawumia received the most votes nationwide, with Kennedy Agyapong and Alan Kyerematen in close pursuit. The purpose of the 2024 Super Delegates Conference is to narrow down the list of potential presidential candidates from within the party.
Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia received 629 votes, which accounts for 68.15% of the total vote.
The Member of Parliament for Assin Central, Kennedy Agyapong, secured the second position in the election with a total of 132 votes, which is 14.30% of the total votes. Alan Kyerematen, the former Trade Minister, got the third position with a total of 95 votes, representing 10.29% of the votes.
In total, 955 delegates from across the country cast their ballots at one of 17 polling locations. There were allegations that President Akufo-Addo pressured delegates to vote for an “establishment candidate” in the party’s primary election. The president, however, denied the charges.
On August 2, at a meeting with party communicators at Jubilee House, President Akufo-Addo said that not a single party member could claim that he had personally asked them to support Dr. Bawumia.
