President John Mahama
And it came to pass that President John Mahama, incensed by the evidenced-backed wanton vote-buying in the recent primary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Ayawaso East Constituency, cracked the whip on one of the suspects, Mohammed Baba Jamal Ahmed.
The recall from his duty post as Ghana’s envoy to Abuja, in the President’s reaction, was particularly prominent because investigations into the matter had not been exhausted. The action, according to his correspondence on the subject, was without prejudice to the announced probe by the NDC.
Many observers were unenthused because, for them, vote-buying is a normal trend in local politics, especially in the NDC, and it spans from top to bottom.
Baba Jamal, confident about a positive outcome of the probe, was proven right when at the end regardless of calls for an annulment by the Majority in Parliament, the latter’s wish failed to materialise.
Something is not right, but that is the reality of politics in this country, especially in the turf of the NDC.
Now that no sanctions have been exacted and none will be, even in the face of undisputed evidence of vote-buying, it would be interesting to find out what the mood of the President would be.
It is heartbreaking to think that after all the cacophony about “the mere gifts” of motorbikes, cash and the rest, anchored on the swearing with the Holy Quran to vote for the donor politician, the NDC establishment has glossed over the anomaly.
It is a carte blanche for the perpetuation of the doling out of presents to delegates and, by extension, the Ghanaian electorate when by-elections and general elections are due.
We do not think that is what we want as a growing democracy, because of its negative impact on the integrity of the electoral process.
We also do not think that the intelligence of the average Ghanaian should be so insulted.
Should we allow braggarts and dangerous elements who are moneybags to vie for the leadership of our dominant political parties through ‘gifts’?
The tempo of the conversations around the discredited Ayawaso East NDC primary have diminished or even died out, and by that giving a nod to future repetitions.
Our ranking on the corruption perception index is still unenviable, and we do not show enough appetite to reverse this standing.
How are they feeling who demanded the annulment of the polls?
Have they been cowed into submission to such an extent that they have lost their voices of dissent?
When Baba Jamal eventually worms his way into Parliament after March 3, he would be remembered as a Member of Parliament who, alongside his contenders, made the headlines because the primary in which they contested was stained by unusual volumes of gifts to delegates.
What is Kissi Agyebeng going to do now after his ‘eye service’ announcement of a probe into the matter?
The expression, ‘hot air’, fits the Special Prosecutor’s release on starting a probe. Let him do a fresh release to announce his standing down of the action he told his compatriots he was going to pursue.