Policy think tank, Solidaire Ghana, has called on government to give a breakdown of the exact cost of conducting the Assin North by-election.

According to Solidaire Ghana, the demand for accountability emanates from the fact that Ghanaians in exercise of their free choice, voted for the NPP government to superintend over the affairs of state and bring about development in the lives of the people, as freely promised by the President and his team. It noted that the President more importantly, must to do so in a judicious manner.

Solidaire Ghana stated that it is important for the media, academia, traditional authorities, civil society and all concerned players in the nation building effort, to demand publication of the cost incurred in the conduct of such a “forced” electioneering exercise. This, it explained, is in order to help inform the Ghanaian taxpayer and help determine, whether the taxes paid to the government have been put to a good use or not.

“In solidarity with the people of Assin North in particular and the Ghanaian taxpayer in general who had been taken through long periods of uncertainties, lack of representation and losses, we seek to encourage Ghanaians to demand, that the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) government, under the auspices of President Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo, do account to the nation, the cost incurred by the state in engineering and conducting the recently-held Assin North by-election.”
Solidaire Ghana

Furthermore, Solidaire Ghana indicated that besides the manpower lost in three weeks over the electioneering campaign, it is the considered view, that the cost born by the Electoral Commission of Ghana, the Ghana Police Service, the Ghana Armed Forces, and all other state institutions including the office of the President and Vice President, in the conduct of this Assin North by-election, runs into millions of cedis, which the Ghanaian taxpayer has paid for.

Additionally, it elaborated that these financial losses, are in addition to the “painful and sad demise” of an Assin North-based woman who was a wife and a mother of four kids.

“The losses recorded as a result of this completely avoidable by-election, are indeed irrecoverable…”
Solidaire Ghana

Accountability on conduct of Assin North by-election

Solidaire Ghana emphasized that in a “cash-crunch economy” like that of Ghana’s, it is “unconscionable if not wicked”, for a ruling party to pursue a matter that leads to huge cost to the taxpayer, and yields no dividends towards the lives of the people.

“The social contract established with the ruling politicians, after years of campaigning and convincing the same Ghanaian taxpayer to vote accordingly, is to better manage the resources of state, and bring about development in the lives of the people.

“The mandate given to the NPP government is not to dissipate the inadequate public resources in pursuit of the partisan interest of the NPP. That is not what the people of Ghana signed on to when we went to the polls to elect the government in 2016 and 2020.”
Solidaire Ghana

In light of this, Solidaire Ghana expressed that Ghanaians must have the opportunity to look at the amounts of money spent on Assin North and ask if the taxpayers money spent by the state in pursuing the re-elected James Gyekye-Quayson, could not have been put to a better use in providing a medical facility for some deprived communities, or to fix broken bridges in the countryside, among others.

It further revealed that the choice by the ruling NPP government, not to do any of such projects for the electorates to enjoy, but opt to invest much-scarce state resources in creating the by-election situation, must become an open book for the next generation of politicians to learn from.

“The lessons learnt from this wasteful exercise must guide future leadership in this country, not to repeat such a venture. This is a sure way of learning from the mistakes of the past, and chatting a better way forward for Ghana to avoid such wasteful expenditures, refocus our resources to develop our communities faster and become a developed nation in our lifetime.”
Solidaire Ghana