The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) has dismissed suggestions that it is selectively targeting the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in its ongoing probe of alleged vote-buying incidents.
Sammy Darko, Director of Strategy, Research, and Communications at the OSP, said investigations into both the NDC Ayawaso East parliamentary primary and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) presidential primaries are guided strictly by law and evidence, not political considerations.
“This statement is not just about what happened at Ayawaso East or the NPP primaries. It is generally that we are reminding Ghanaians that vote buying and vote selling are prohibited by law and that we must refrain from it,” he said.
Speaking on Citi TV on Monday, 9 February, Darko stated that some critics had misread the structure of the OSP’s statement, which presented cases sequentially.
“In the two paragraphs, you will understand the basis of what we are doing in both instances. So, I don’t understand how some people were reading the statement, because they said we have only one paragraph for the NPP, and the rest is for the NDC. It doesn’t add up,” he stated.
He further clarified that additional focus on one individual was due to an alleged assault on an OSP officer during the election process.
“We dedicated a little more to a particular candidate because that candidate had assaulted an OSP officer in the performance of this work during the election,” he said.
The OSP announced on Sunday, 8 February, that investigations had commenced into vote-buying allegations arising from the 31 January NPP presidential primaries and the 7 February NDC Ayawaso East parliamentary primary.
During the NDC primary, reports suggested that delegates received 32-inch televisions, coolers, and boiled eggs from the camp of Mohammed Baba Jamal Ahmed. In the NPP primaries, supporters of aspirants allegedly distributed cash to delegates, prompting complaints from those who said they did not receive promised funds.
The OSP reiterated that all investigations are being conducted impartially, under Ghanaian law, with no preference for or against any political party.
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