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General News of Friday, 28 February 2003

Source: Ghanaian Chronicle

NPP is Bribing Voters At Wulensi -Bagbin

Minority leader Alban Bagbin has stated that he would be highly surprised if the New Patriotic Party (NPP) wins the Wulensi seat.

He asserted that the advantages accruing to the NDC were still valid today, adding that, the constituency is one that favours the NDC: So "I will be highly surprised if they vote otherwise." The minority leader said this in an interview with Chronicle in Accra, yesterday.

The Wulensi constituency seat became vacant as a result of a Supreme Court ruling last month that the NDC Member of Parliament for the area, Mr. Samuel Nyimaka, was disqualified based on his residential legibility.

Mr. Bagbin explained that, although both parties are performing well, indications are that, the NDC is still ahead of the NPP in spite of all the efforts that are being made by the NPP to influence voters.

Some of those efforts, he mentioned, included the distribution of items to villages in the constituency trying to cajole voters to vote for the NPP.

He indicated that pieces of information reaching him revealed that the NPP "has given grinding mills to some Nanumba villages and has also distributed prayer mats to a number of Moslem communities, which are all meant to influence them to vote for the NPP."

According to Bagbin, NDC has sufficient resources to sort things out with the ruling party, even though they may not be as endowed as the incumbent adding, "Incumbency is the strength the ruling party has over us.

"Yes we might not be as rich as a party in power but at least we can generate resources from the members of the party to finance the bye-election and that is what we are doing", the minority leader told the Chronicle.

But he quickly pointed out that the ruling party also has a lot of weaknesses and mentioned harsh economic system facing the country as one of them and told Chronicle that he has confidence in the NDC candidate who is an assistant director of education, born and bred in the area.

Bagbin refuted allegations that Dr. Obed Asamoah, the national chairman of the party, was hoarding huge sums of money and that he was reluctant to release it for the Wulensi by-election saying, "such a rumour is baseless and unfounded".

He added that he has never seen the party chairman living any opulent life like someone who has resources and stressed that, "Obed has no account or access to any account for that kind of money; it is just people who are suspecting that once he was chairman of the finance committee he should money at his disposal.