Give us freebies in lieu of development - electorate tell aspirants

Some electorates are pestering assembly member aspirants to give them money, drinks, football among others in order to earn their votes.

The voters are justifying their demands on the basis that voted assembly members have in the past failed to bring real development to them.

Luv News’ Erastus Asare Donkor reports that some voters in Kumasi indicated that they prefer freebies and transportation money to development because the latter is often not realised. He visited electoral areas in Asokwa and Ahensan among others.

Even though the office of the assembly member is a voluntary one which attracts some level of allowance, some voters are of the notion the office is a gold mine.

This attitude has become a worrying development to the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE).

About 43,585 people are contesting the elections and more than 2000 police personnel have been deployed to the various polling stations to ensure smooth conduct of the polls.

Ahead of tomorrow’s election, the NCCE is warning voters in the Ashanti regional capital Kumasi to stop demanding money from aspirants before participating in the district assembly elections.

Alhassan Yakubu, the Ashanti Regional Director of the NCCE, told Joy News as next year’s national elections approach vote buying in any form should not be condoned.

He was concerned that a canker that his outfit is battling hard to deal with is now creeping into the district level elections.

“It is becoming a serious thing the, and the earlier we condemn it the better,” he stated.

In a related development, it seems the worry of the Centre for Domestic Election Observers CODEO) about political party influence in the local elections has been confirmed.

Joy News checks with some candidates show some political parties have approached them offering financial support.

Though they would not mention names of the political parties, an aspirant who rejected the offer told Joy News’ Fred Smith the parties had wanted him to in return support them in the 2016 elections.

Meanwhile, a former Local Government Minister Samuel Ofosu Ampofo is asking government to declare tomorrow September 1 a public holiday to help increase turnout at the district and unit committee elections.