Delegates in the Assin Central constituency in the Central Region have accused Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, one of the flagbearer aspirants, of denying them a stipend for transportation, which would aid their mobility to exercise their franchise in the New Patriotic Party (NPP) presidential primary election.
According to them, they believe this is because Hon Kennedy Ohene Agyapong hails from the constituency and is a member of parliament for the constituency who is at the same time a flagbearer aspirant.
The NPP is today, November 4, 2023, electing a flagbearer to lead the party into the 2024 general election.
Voting is underway across the country, and a total of 203,439 delegates are expected to partake in the elections. In all, more than 18,000 delegates are participating in the primaries in the central region. At Assin Central, more than 500 delegates are also expected to vote in the election.
Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, Mr Kennedy Ohene Agyapong, Member of Parliament (MP) for Assin Central, Dr Owusu Afriyie-Akoto, a former Minister for Food and Agriculture, and Mr Francis Addai-Nimoh, a former MP for Mampong, are vying for the NPP flagbearer position.
But delegates in Assin Central say that although the party makes arrangements for transportation, that is not enough. Asked whether it was the case that all aspirants needed to give a stipend, they answered that was not the case, but their understanding is that all aspirants are giving them some stipend.
“There is one development that we need to talk about, and that is that when we came, we were told that we were supposed to go through rules that the National had set for us, and we have gone through those rules. And interestingly, looking at this particular constituency, people are coming from Ewusem, Asaman, and in fact, if you are to check the kilometres of road from Ewusem to this place, it is way too long. We came, and Hon. Ken has indeed done the needful. He made sure that at least every delegate would get something. We are also learning that the national party topped up for every delegate. And interestingly, Hon, Ken is the MP for this constituency, and he has replicated this same gesture across the entire country.”
“What is most unfortunate this morning is that our Vice President, who happens to be the leader and second gentleman of the land, of which we, the party grassroots, are directly working in consonance with, has unfortunately refused to give us a token that will indeed transport our brothers who are far from this particular place so that the mobility will also be nice. In fact, we have not gotten anything of that sort,” one polling station chairman who doubles as a communicator for the party lamented in an interview with GBC’s Central Region’s correspondent.
Another delegate, Stephen Kweku Boafo, who also corroborated this concern, described the development as unfortunate.
For his part, another delegate called on the campaign team of the Vice President to give them what was due them.
“This is not something that we would be asking for. It is something which is due us because we are here because of these aspirants. Probably, we should be asking the same question: Apart from Assin Central, which other constituency did Dr Bawumia not give a stipend to?”
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