The Ayawaso East constituency primary of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) has once again exposed the vote-buying infested elections in the politics of the country.
The broad daylight actions of sharing money, television sets and other items by the various NDC Parliamentary Aspirants during the Ayawaso East primary took the shine off the exercise.
The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) has since announced the commencement of an investigation into the alleged “vote-buying, vote-selling and related corruption” associated with last Saturday’s NDC parliamentary primary.
The anti-corruption office issued a statement on Sunday, February 8, 2026 which said the probe would focus on whether corrupt inducements took place and the sources of funding behind them.
The probe, according to the OSP, will also touch on the recently held presidential primary of the opposition NPP.
“The OSP has commenced investigation in respect of the NPP presidential primary conducted on 31 January 2026,” the statement said.
It continued that “On 7 February 2026, the OSP commenced a real-time investigation in respect of the NDC parliamentary primaries at the Ayawaso East constituency.
“The investigations focus on allegations of vote buying, vote selling, and the sources of funding of the alleged corrupt acts.”
The NDC Parliamentary Candidate-elect, Mohammed Baba Jamal, left his post in Nigeria as Ghana’s High Commissioner to the Federal Republic, to contest for the nod to represent the NDC at the by-election.
SACK
However, the President, John Dramani Mahama, has relieved him of his post upon allegations that he bought votes by sharing television sets to delegates.
Shortly after news broke about the alleged vote-buying, Jubilee House issued a statement and announced that the President had “directed the immediate recall of Mohammed Baba Jamal Ahmed (Baba Jamal) from his position as Ghana’s High Commissioner to the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
The decision follows allegations of voter inducement in today’s NDC primaries in the Ayawaso East Constituency, in which Mr. Baba Jamal, a candidate, participated,” Jubilee House said.
The presidency statement indicated that, while the allegations of vote-buying were made against multiple candidates who contested the primaries, Baba Jamal was the only serving public officer among them.
NDC PROBE
The party, on the other hand, strongly condemned the allegation of vote-buying, describing the reported conduct as a violation of the party’s values and the reset agenda.
The General Secretary of the NDC, FifiFiaviKwetey, in a statement issued on Saturday, announced the establishment of a committee to probe the matter.
The three-member committee is chaired by the former party stalwart Kofi TotobiQuakyi, with the Majority Leader, MahamaAyariga, and legal expert EmefaFugah as members.
The committee has been tasked to investigate the alleged inducement and bribery during the Ayawaso East primaries and recommend sanctions and reforms that could help curb inducement in the future internal elections of the party.
PUBLIC
The public appears to be outraged with the development that happened at the weekend.
The president of the policy think tank, IMANI Africa, Franklin Cudjoe, called for the annulment of the Ayawaso East NDC primary.
He argued that the conduct undermined the party’s electoral code and the credibility of its internal democratic processes altogether.
Several others, who agreed with the position of Franklin Cudjoe, also urged that the episode should be a wake-up call for political parties about the persistent challenges of vote-buying and electoral integrity.
Meanwhile, the Majority Caucus of the NDC in Parliament has called for the immediate cancellation of the parliamentary primaries in the Ayawaso East constituency.
The group issued a statement yesterday and strongly condemned the allegations, against the background of the agenda to reset the politics of this country.
According to the Majority Caucus, the allegations undermine the credibility of the party’s internal democratic processes and run contrary to its commitment to ethical political conduct. They said “any candidate who has been established to have engaged in unethical conduct should be banned from participating in the subsequent primary.”
The winner, Mohammed Baba Jamal, has also issued a statement, acknowledging the decision of the NDC to probe the matter.
Acknowledging that he had been recalled by the president as Ghana’s High Commissioner to the Federal Republic of Nigeria, he thanked the President for the opportunity to serve his country in that capacity.
However, he has denied any wrongdoing and said he is ready to assist in the investigation.
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The post Mahama Sacks Baba Jamal appeared first on The Ghanaian Chronicle.
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