The New Patriotic Party (NPP) recently concluded its flagbearer elections, which took place on Saturday, November 4, 2023, and saw a participation of over 200,000 delegates.
The results were announced by the Electoral Commission at the Accra Sports Stadium, in the presence of numerous delegates and candidates.
The contestants for the NPP presidential position included the Member of Parliament for the Assin Central Constituency, Kennedy Ohene Agyapong, Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, former Minister of Food and Agriculture, Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto, and former Member of Parliament for Mampong, Francis Addai-Nimoh.
In the end of the race, Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia emerged as the winner, securing 61.43 percent of the votes with a total of 118,210 votes.
Kennedy Agyapong garnered 37.41 percent of the votes, totaling 71,991 votes.
Dr. Afriyie Akoto received 0.76 percent with 1,459 votes, and Frimpong Addai-Nimoh secured 0.41 percent with 781 votes.
However, the lead-up to the election was not without controversy, as allegations of vote-buying surfaced.
Delegates openly admitted to receiving cash incentives from the campaign teams of Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia and Kennedy Agyapong.
In the La Dade Kotokopon constituency, reports emerged that delegates claimed to have received GHC450 from the vice president’s camp in exchange for their support.
A viral video featured a delegate named Sir Collins, who chose to vote for Kennedy Agyapong because he considered the financial offer from Agyapong’s camp to be more substantial than that of the vice president.
Sir Collins expressed his dissatisfaction with the differences in resources and support, as Dr. Bawumia’s camp had offered GHC400 to each delegate.
Another delegate, Samed Nuhu, admitted to receiving money from both Bawumia’s and Kennedy Agyapong’s campaigns but urged fellow delegates not to allow these financial incentives to unduly influence their decision-making.
Nuhu pledged to vote for the candidate he believed would best serve the party’s interests, even though he had voted for Bawumia and expressed disappointment at the amount received in return.
These allegations of vote-buying have raised concerns about the role of money in politics and its potential impact on the integrity of the electoral process.