Ernest Owusu Bempah, the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) deputy director of communications, said that the National Democratic Congress spent GHS30 million, or $3 million, to win the Assin North by-election.

He alleged that during the Tuesday, June 27, by-election, the NDC had purchased votes.

According to Mr. Owusu Bempah, the NDC paid voters 1000 cedis so they would support their candidate.

“They were paying people to go and vote, so they give every voter 500, if the person gets somebody to come and vote they add 500 making it 1000. This was an election they bought. Before the declaration, the number of items, fertilizers, weedicide, agric spraying machines, and bag of rice for each voter and that one was almost 5m Dollars. With propaganda and lies they spent $1millon.
“I am calling on the Office of the Special Prosecutor to investigate where the NDC got this money from to buy the votes.”
Ernest Owusu Bempah

In the Tuesday, June 27 by-election, James Gyakye Quayson of the NDC defeated Charles Opoku of the NPP and Bernice Enyonam Sefenu of the Liberal Party of Ghana (LPG) to retake the seat.

Mr. Gyakye Quayson, whose election was ruled unlawful by the Supreme Court in 2020, will reappear to assume his place in Parliament.

Assin North Construction Equipments Disappear

After the National Democratic Congress (NDC) won the Assin North by-election on June 27, 2023, a worrying issue has come to light.

The construction machinery meant to improve the area’s terrible roads was found to have vanished just two days after the election.

Many women voiced their displeasure at this abrupt absence. These women, who live in Dasani and Breku, questioned the circumstances surrounding the equipment’s disappearance as well as its intended use.

They expressed their concern that the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) might have used the tools to win favor with and sway voters ahead of the election. The women voiced their dissatisfaction and vowed to keep the NPP accountable for its claims that it would improve the local road system.

In the forthcoming 2024 elections, they threatened to vote against the NPP and accused the government of underserving them.

Beforehand, Kwasi Amoako-Attah, the Minister of roads and highways, made it clear that the ministry would not hurry road development projects because of a by-election. He emphasized the need to uphold quality standards and guarantee value for money.

The Assin Asempaneye Assin Kushea Road and the Assin Praso-Assin Fosu Road were among the active road projects the Minister inspected in the Assin North Constituency.

The Minister reaffirmed the government’s commitment to enhancing the region’s road infrastructure despite some delays brought on by rain and modifications to the project’s scope. It is unclear how the problem will be handled and whether the government would take measures to carry out its promises of road development in the Assin North Constituency in light of the missing construction equipment and the women’s worries.