From Kumawu to Assin North: Coincidence or vote-buying strategy?

A week ago, the Kumawu constituency was all over the news ahead of the by-elections occasioned by the painful demise of the late Philip Basoah. One of the key talking points, however, was the somewhat unusual deployment of machines to put their roads in good shape.

Was it because many dignitaries would be coming to the town, as we saw in the case of Sakrawono, the home of the late Johnson Owusu Afriyie, popularly known as Sir John? While the opposition maintained that the move was only a tactic to gain votes, members of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) argued that it was a move to fix the roads as they deserved.

Today, all attention has turned to Assin North, following the declaration of the seat as vacant. Hon. James Gyakye Quayson lost the case challenging his eligibility to fill the position as a member of parliament for the Assin North Constituency because he was (or used to be) a citizen of both Ghana and Canada. This is something our constitution doesn’t allow for occupants of important public offices like Members of Parliament. Following this news, the machines have once again descended on Assin North, this time to fix their roads!

No one doubts that roads in the country are in the government’s plans to be fixed. Undoubtedly, roads will be fixed, taking into consideration certain priorities due to limited resources. However, it is saddening that by-elections have suddenly become a part of the criteria, and we cannot comprehend why.

Should our Members of Parliament be removed from parliament or die before we see development, in a bid to capture power? In a case where these roads aren’t a priority as per our road plans for the year, it means some that need to be fixed will not see work to the extent they were originally planned to have.

One is left wondering whether the delivery and provision of development have turned into buying the votes of people. We cannot discount the reasons for the NPP’s win in the Kumawu by-elections and neglect the “magic” these road fixes did. We look to see if the same will be the case in Assin North.

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The writer – Samuel Swanzy-Baffoe is a graduate of the Ghana Institute of Journalism currently working as a creative executive at The Business Africa Consulting Group (The BAC Group).

He is passionate about development and using journalism as a tool to foster that.