Kumbungu NDC delegates were bought with GH¢500K – Ras Mubarak

Member of Parliament (MP) for the Kumbungu Constituency, Ras Mubarak who was defeated at last Saturday’s parliamentary primary has described as worrying the growing monetization of Ghana’s politics and has warned that its rippling effect could be dire for the country if it is not looked at urgently, MyNewsGh.com reports.

The MP who lost the poll by a wide margin to Dr. Hamza Adam, a lecturer at the University for Development Studies (UDS) says the delegates were bought with some GH¢500,000 that was doled out by a purported businessman, one Hamza Abdulaziz a.k.a Hamza Tanko, just to unseat him.

Dr Hamza Adam polled 401 as against the incumbent’s 273 and 81 votes for the third candidate Baba Abdulai.

Right after the end of polls on Saturday, Ras Mubarak gave indication that he had reported a case of vote buying in his constituency to the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI), owing to the wanton display of cash and profligate spending that was exhibited on the day.

Speaking in an interview on Okay FM monitored by MyNewsGh.com, Ras Mubarak said, he has “incontrovertible evidence” to prove that, his opponent, was aided with an amount of GH¢500,000 by the said businessman, but would not discuss the details in the media.

He, however, said he has “no issues” with the winner of the poll and has pledged his full support for him, but that, the businessman who flagrantly went to his constituency to influence the outcome of the poll with money must be brought to justice.

“If we do not pay urgent attention to the issues of vote buying that is creeping into our politics, soon we will have drug dealers and terrorists choosing our MPs and even the president with their money”, a situation he said ‘would undermine the integrity of our democracy”.