Governance expert Professor Baffour Agyemang-Duah has asserted that the indiscretion of the Member of Parliament (MP) for Kwadaso to hand over an envelope to the Electoral Commission (EC) officials was amazing.
During the April 30 Ejisu by-election, the New Patriotic Party MP, Kingsley Nyarko, was caught on live television dishing out a white envelope to two EC officials at the Fumesua Pentecost Church Polling Station with Polling Station Code F311503.
The Kwadaso MP, who does not vote in the constituency and was not assigned any legal responsibility at the polling station, approached the electoral officers and reportedly gave them the envelope to use the content for lunch.
He was seen in the viral video dipping his hands into his back pocket and bringing out the envelope. With gestures indicating that the content was for the two officials, he dropped the envelope on the table between himself and the EC officers.
Speaking to reporters after the incident, the NPP lawmaker noted, “I don’t feel bad because I know I’ve done nothing wrong. I know it’s politics people are going to spin.”
“I am putting it on record that I’ve not done anything wrong,” he insisted.
But the former UN advisor on governance, Prof. Agyemang-Duah, wondered why the NPP MP would descend so low to engage in such illegality
“It is not shocking to me unless you want to be hypocrites in this country. Vote-buying has been part and parcel of our electoral process, indulged by both political parties, even amongst their own primaries.
“Of course, Kingsley Nyarko, his indiscretion was amazing…somebody well educated, a big political party, and you go to a place you are not supposed to be to dish out whatever that you say he dished out, were you trying to influence them?” he told Alfred Ocansey on The Key Points on Saturday.
The governance expert, however, maintained that the discussions should focus on finding solutions to vote-buying in Ghana’s political process.
“I find it very stressful that we are devoting precious time to discuss an issue that is quite prevalent in our political system. This is not new,” he said.
Moreover, the EC subsequently suspended the two, Regina Serwaa, a Ballot Issuer, and Presiding Officer George Sasu.
“The Electoral Commission has taken immediate steps and has withdrawn the two (2) temporary staff while investigations take place.
“The Commission upholds the principles and values of integrity, truth and transparency. These values are reinforced during the training of all temporary staff. The Commission will not countenance acts which cast a slur on the integrity of the institution and will not hesitate to sanction its officials who violate its laws,” portions of a statement from the EC stated.
