NPP Will Never Bribe Electorate

The New Patriotic Party (NPP) says it has noted with some disquiet the allegations of bribery and inducement of the electorate in the Wulensi Constituency by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) against the NPP and the subsequent editorial by the Ghana Chronicle on the subject.

In a press release, the NPP said it "understands why the NDC faced with an impeding electoral defeat in the Wulensi Constituency, would stoop so low to fabricate a story that the party is dishing out sewing machines, machetes and bicycles to the electorate to induce them to vote it. The NPP calls it cheap propaganda created only by the NDC, known for its lies and hypocrisy, to score political points, and also bring the results of the Wulensi by-election into disrepute and ridicule even before it is held."

The NPP said, as a party, it has not distributed corn-mills or syringes or food items to individuals or groups to induce them to vote its candidate. "The party cannot however, hold brief for any supporter. What we have done really is mobilize bicycles, pickups, posters and T-shirts to the Wulensi Constituency all in an effort to win the vacant parliamentary seat. In fact, we are still looking for more bicycles because of the terrain and the difficulties our activists on the ground are facing in their effort to cover the whole Constituency before the elections next week."

The statement said the bicycles and pickups are not gifts or bribes but are necessary logistics needed in any well-organised political campaign and will be sent to Navrongo, and to the Gomoa East Constituency for the by elections there as well.

"The NPP is determined to win not only the Wulensi seat but also to retain the Navrongo Central and Gomoa East seats, and we are not going to be apologetic about our efforts to achieve our aims, what we will never do is to bribe the electorate to vote for us. Never. Because we are not NDC."