Kennedy Osei Nyarko, an NPP Member of Parliament for Akim Swedru, has advocated for tougher measures to combat the monetisation of internal party elections.
According to Kennedy Osei Nyarko, vote-buying aspirants must be banned for 10 years.
He argued that the recent Supreme Court ruling alone will not eliminate the practice of vote-buying, adding that political parties must move beyond the court’s decision by introducing strict internal reforms.
The NPP lawmaker proposed that parties should enact rules that automatically disqualify or withdraw vote-buying aspirants, highlighting that offenders should be barred from contesting any future elections within their parties for at least 10 years.
In a Facebook post, Kennedy Osei Nyarko wrote, “What we need to understand is that the Supreme Court ruling yesterday alone in itself is not going to end the monetisation of our internal politics.
Parties must go further to legislate and institute measures and reforms that will automatically disqualify or withdraw the nominations of candidates or potential aspirants that may attempt to dole out monies or any material things to any delegates or an electoral college member just in an attempt to influence their votes.
Such candidates must be banned from contesting any future elections in the party for a minimum of 10 years. There must be prison sentences for those caught in the act by the state.
This, I believe, will serve as a deterrent for those who may try to buy votes”.
Also, Kofi Bentil, a private legal practitioner, has said the Supreme Court decision on the delegates system will create more absurdities and problems.
According to Kofi Bentil, Ghana does not have a system to properly deal with universal membership voting in party primaries.
He argued that the Supreme Court ruling could ensure that NPP people do not vote en masse for one candidate in NDC Primaries and therefore elect someone NDC people actually don’t like.
In a Facebook post reacting to the Supreme Court decision wrote, “Ghana is still a developing nation. We dont have the systems to properly deal with universal membership voting in party primaries.
The Ghana Card is the best shot we have towards creating a system which can support this but it is still not fully deployed for this purpose.
If we want universal party membership to vote here are some simple questions.
1. What systems do we have to certify that Mr B belongs to Party A and will only vote in their primaries?
2. How do we ensure that NPP people do not vote en-mass for one candidate in NDC Primaries and therefore elect someone NDC people actually dont like?
A cardinal rule in Judgments is that a good judgment avoids creating absurdities. You can therefore tell a bad judgment by the absurdities it creates.
This judgment will work more absurdities and create more problems than it solves”.
Their comments follow the Supreme Court declaring the delegate system used by political parties unconstitutional.
The apex court has ordered all political parties to ensure all their registered members participate in the selection of presidential and parliamentary candidates.
The Supreme Court, in a 5-2 majority decision, ruled that all political parties must put in place mechanisms to allow every member in good standing to participate in the election of presidential and parliamentary candidates.
The apex court gave all political parties one year from the date of the judgment to comply with the directive.
The Supreme Court ruling effectively abolishes the long-standing delegate system, under which only selected delegates were permitted to vote in presidential and parliamentary primaries.
See the post below:
@ghnow_ The National Chief Imam offered prayers for President John Dramani Mahama during a courtesy visit by officials of the National Youth Authority ahead of the National Youth Week celebrations. #GHNow #fyp ♬ original sound – GHnow
@ghnow_ CEO of the National Youth Authority Calls for Greater Youth Participation Ahead of National Youth Week Celebrations in Kumasi 🇬🇠The CEO of the National Youth Authority has urged young people across Ghana to actively participate in the upcoming National Youth Week celebrations in Kumasi, emphasizing the importance of youth involvement in national development. #GHNow #fyp ♬ original sound – GHnow
