A candidate who contested the National Democratic Congress (NDC) parliamentary primaries in the Upper West Akim constituency Gordon Mantey Sellas-Mensah has disclosed he lost because his contenders acted a plan to buy votes.

He said all indications were pointing to a victory for him; however, his contenders influenced delegates with money to get them elected.

One major initiative by the aspirant was to get the constituency an ultra murder office when elected.

But he lost the race to the incumbent Mr. Derek Bekoe Darko.

The failed aspirant said the delegates were influenced by money but has cautioned them not lament should the MP fail to represent their interest.

He expressed worry at the monetization of internal and national elections noting the problem deprives Ghanaians of development.

"Monetization of elections will always deprive constituents of competent and qualified candidates. When you allow people to buy your votes and win power, they will focus on recouping g the cost they incurred during the elections and so they will have limited resources to execute an agenda for development,’’ he suggested.

He disclosed how he had pay GHc1, 200 have his sibling released from prison but when it got to the time for him to vote on the day, he voted against me because he said I did not give him money top allow his vote.

Gordon Mantey Sellas-Mensah said, during the campaign, the delegates told us that they will only vote for the highest bidder because they claimed when we voted for; we do not attend to them.

"This is a terrible situation we must address. It is affecting Ghana’s democracy and the opportunity for people with the competence to be elected. The way the trend is going, we must address it before it gets worse,’’ he added.

He also revealed the delegates took GHc200 from the only female candidate and came to him demanding for money before they vote from him but he could not provide them with the money.

He has, however, promised to come back in 2023 well-armed with the lessons from the primaries.