Kotei Dzani denies vote-buying in Council of state election

The newly elected Greater Accra representative on the Council of State, Nii Kotei Dzani, has rubbished allegations that he bribed delegates at Thursday’s election to vote for him.

Two delegates have accused Dr. Dzani of bribing delegates after he won the race in the region, by polling 20 votes, against his closest contender, Nene Kanor Attiapah who had 12 votes.

But speaking on the Point Blank segment of Eyewitness News, Mr. Dzani dismissed the bribery allegation , saying “even if a government wins the election, they say opposition rigged the election, so I am not bothered by these claims.”

Mr. Dzani's comment agrees with  that of the Head of Communications at the Electoral Commission, Eric Dzapasu’s account of the election, as he also stated that “nothing untoward happen” during the election.

“I didn’t see people taking pictures of their ballots. One person was going into the booth with his phone but his attention was drawn to that. The press, delegates and election officials were all there, nothing untoward happened at the election,” Mr. Dzapasu said.

The Greater Accra Region poll was an area of interest as the former National Democratic Congress Member of Parliament for Ningo-Prampram, Enoch Teye Mensah, was scheduled to take part in the election, but later withdrew at the last minute, citing personal reasons.

The NDC executives of the Ningo-Prampram constituency had prior to his withdrawal expressed their disappointment with the former MP's decision, saying it would send wrong signals to the grassroots members of the party, since they would think that t he has defected to the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP).

A total of 113 candidates between the ages of 23 and 84, contested in the election, which took place in all regional capitals across the country.

The elected regional representatives are:
Eunice Jacqueline Buah, Western Region
Kwadwo Agyenim Boateng, Brong Ahafo Region
Yakubu S. Nantogmah, Northern Region
Agona Akrofosohene Nana Owusu Achiaw, Ashanti Region

Richard Babini Kanton IV, Upper West Region
Dr. Nii Kotei Dzani, Greater Accra Region
Robert D. Mosore, Upper East Region
Obrempong Appiah Nuamah II, Central Region
Francis Albert Seth Nyonyo, Volta Region
Nana Somuah Mireku- Nyampong, Eastern Region
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By: Marian Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana
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