Ernest Anim, the Member of Parliament-elect for the Kumawu Constituency in the Ashanti Region could not vote for himself in the by-election that took place last month.
That inability according to the New Patriotic Party (NPP) National Organizer was because at the time of the election, Anim was not a registered voter in Kumawu.
Henry Nana Boakye revealed this on JoyNews programme PM Express on June 5, 2023; whiles responding to a statement alleging collusion between the NPP and the Electoral Commission with respect to the candidature of an NPP aspirant for the June 27 Assin North by-election.
The NDC insists that the fact that the said aspirant is not a registered voter in Assin-North means he cannot contest in the by-election. The NPP strongly disagrees with that position.
“In Kumawu, we presented a candidate who was in a similar situation, Ernest Anim was not a voter there, but he came from Bodomase, but he came and he won and he even increased our votes,” Nana B affirmed.
The host then asked: “The Kumawu candidate who won the by-election for you, he did not vote for himself?”
To which Nana B responded: “That is it, he did not vote. He won the elections, that is not the only time, we have this scenario a couple of times,” he stressed adding that even though the party could lose the vote of its candidate, it will win the Assin North seat with a 1,500 vote margin.
The NDC alleges that the EC and NPP are scheming to transfer a particular candidate into the Assin North register to allow them vote.
The accused parties have rejected the collusion allegation with the EC explaining in a statement that an aspirant necessarily does not need to be a registered voter to be eligible to contest as a Member of Parliament.
Source: ghanaweb.com
