This is the most expensive primaries ever – Pratt on Bawumia's camp spending over GH¢100m on delegates

Veteran journalist and managing editor of the Insight Newspaper, Kwesi Pratt Jnr, has expressed shock about the amount of money that was spent during the presidential primaries of the running New Patriotic Party (NPP), on November 4, 2023.

Speaking during a panel discussion on Metro TV’s Good Morning Ghana programme, on October 8, 2023, Pratt Jnr said that he has never seen the kind of money that was spent during the the November 4th primaries in any internal election in Ghana.

He added that the Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, alone spent over GH¢100 million to get himself elected.

“This is about the most expensive political primaries that I have seen in my life, the most expensive! Conservative estimates based on fact indicate that Alhaji Mahamudu Bawumia or his team must have spent over GH¢100 million on this election.

“… all of us saw delegates complaining on live television that they have been given GH¢400, you (the NPP) told us you heard 208,000 delegates. If you multiply that by 400, how much do you get? That alone gives you GH¢83.2 million – that is just the GH¢400 distributed on that day,” he said.

The veteran journalist added, “It has never happened in the history of this country”.

About the NPP primaries:

Dr Mahamudu Bawumia was elected flagbearer of the NPP on Saturday in an election that saw close to 200,000 delegates vote to choose between four candidates.

The vice president polled 61.47% of the total votes, beating Kennedy Ohene Agyapong, Francis Addai-Nimoh, and Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto to become the NPP’s presidential candidate for the 2024 polls.

Watch Pratt Jnr’s remarks in the video below:

Dr. Bawumia spent over Ghc100m on the NPP Presidential Primaries - Kwesi Pratt reacts to the 'most expensive' political primaries he's ever seen#GoodMorningGhana #MetroTV pic.twitter.com/9vRZakfnIR

— Metro TV Ghana (@metrotvgh) November 8, 2023