At least Baba Jamal should have been fined – Vitus Azeem

Anti-corruption campaigner Vitus Azeem has criticised the National Democratic Congress (NDC) for clearing Baba Jamal Mohammed Ahmed to contest the upcoming Ayawaso East by-election despite allegations of vote-buying established during the party’s parliamentary primary.

Speaking in an interview on Joy FM’s Midday News on Wednesday, Mr Azeem said the party missed an opportunity to demonstrate seriousness in dealing with electoral malpractice.

Mr Azeem argued that at the very least, the party should have imposed a penalty to deter future incidents.

“They have woefully failed to make a point. At worst, they would have fined him an amount of money, but just clearing him to go ahead with the by-election doesn’t make sense,” he stated.

His comment comes after the NDC recently announced it would proceed with Baba Jamal as its candidate for the Ayawaso East By-election, even though a three-member investigative committee established allegations of vote-buying during the primaries.

The anti-corruption advocate warned that such decisions only reinforce the culture of vote-buying in Ghana’s politics and weaken public confidence in internal party democracy.

He called on political parties to take stronger and more consistent measures to address inducement and misconduct during elections.