The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has given assurance that it will respond appropriately upon receiving comprehensive reports from its regional representative, the Electoral Commission, and the Ghana Police Service regarding the electoral violence during the party’s parliamentary primary in Yendi over the weekend.
The counting process for the parliamentary poll, held on January 27, 2024, was marred by allegations of stolen ballots, leading to disruptions. The competition was between the incumbent Yendi MP, Farouk Aliu Mahama, and the Chief Executive Officer of the Microfinance and Small Loans Centre (MASLOC), Hajia Abibata Shanni Mahama Zakariah. Violence erupted during the counting process at the Yendi voting center.
In an interview, the General Secretary of the NPP, Justin Kodua Frimpong, emphasized that the party’s national executive committee would convene to discuss and decide on the matter once they receive the reports from their representative, the Electoral Commission, and the Ghana Police Service.
“As I speak to you, we are yet to receive a formal report from our representative who went to the region, the Electoral Commission, and the Ghana Police Service, and when we get all these reports, the national executive committee will meet to deliberate on them and take a decision on Yendi. For whatever transpired there, once we get the report, the party will take a decision on it.”
“Several things happened at Yendi so unless we have the full facts, it will be difficult to comment on any action,” stated Kodua Frimpong.
Despite the violence and disruptions, some NPP executives proceeded to declare the incumbent Yendi MP, Farouk Aliu Mahama, as the parliamentary candidate-elect. However, the Electoral Commission distanced itself from this declaration.
