Former Speaker of Parliament, Professor Aaron Mike Oquaye, has stated that the exorbitant fee being demanded from flagbearer aspirants of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) is a suicidal pathway and must be avoided.
The NPP stalwart said in an interview with Graphiconline news that election is not an auction and the political party could not be for sale.
Describing the NPP’s demand of GH¢4 million development levy from aspiring flagbearers as “a bubonic plague”, Prof. Oquaye stressed that “Moneycracy is not democracy, and a political party must not be seen to be pursuing that pathway”.
A bubonic plague happens to humans and is characterized by fever, delirium
The party has asked each aspirant to pay GH¢100,000 for nomination forms, GH¢500,000 for filing and an additional GH¢4 million as “development fee”.
Some speculate that the new fee may be used to disqualify some presidential aspirants, favouring only those with deep pockets.
Meanwhile, a member of the Election Committee, Barbara Benisa urged party members to prioritize peace and unity as the party approaches its flagbearer primaries.
She made this appeal during the balloting process for positions on the ballot paper, emphasizing the importance of maintaining party harmony ahead of the crucial elections.
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) conducted a balloting process to determine the positions of its candidates on the ballot paper, with representatives from various aspirants in attendance.
Following the announcement of the results by the electoral officer the following results emerged.
The Flagbearer aspirant, Kennedy Agyapong, picked the first slot on the ballot, Bryan Acheampong second, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia third, Dr.Yaw Osei Adutwum fourth and engineer Kwabena Adjei Agyepong was fifth on the ballot paper.
Ambassador Barbara Benisa emphasized the importance of maintaining party harmony ahead of the crucial elections.
Some candidate representatives emphasized that the ballot position is less important than the key messages their candidates will convey to delegate
