No votes, no cars! - NPP candidate spirits vehicles away after loss

According to the Holy Bible, Prophet Elijah handed the baton of power over to Prophet Elisha and the latter promised to follow the good works of his boss. But another Elijah, who has emerged in the political circles in Ghana, is propounding new principles – renege on your promises when you are disappointed by your own people.

As a result of this principle, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) parliamentary aspirant in Ajuma-Enyam-Essiam, Mr Elisha Debrah Odoom, has not only been cursed by his people for fooling them, but seems to have brought his political ambitions to an end.

Reports indicate that Mr Elisha Debrah Odoom, a candidate in the parliamentary primary at Ajumako-Enyam-Essiam, had brought about 11 saloon cars to the election grounds to donate to the party. But when his party delegates failed to give him the nod at end of the poll, he ordered for the cars to be taken away.

This reporter gathered that Mr Odoom had promised to donate each of the branded cars to the 10 zones in the constituency, and the remaining one to the constituency office, to ensure the effective running of party activities.

However, a disappointed and devastated Elisha Debrah Odoom, after the election, quickly asked that all the cars be loaded onto a trailer and driven to his residence.

His action, which delegates on the grounds described as unfortunate, followed the fiercely contested election in which he was only able to manage 67 votes against 411 of Rashid Kwesi Etuaful.

Confirming the incident, Kasapa FM’s Reporter, Yaw Boagyan, who was at the grounds, stated that “the delegates were shocked when Elisha Debrah Odoom after the results were announced, ordered that the cars be sent back to wherever he brought them from. The delegates were thinking that he could have donated at least one of the vehicles to the party office to show his love for the party, but he didn’t do that.

It is, however, unclear whether the aspirant had brought those vehicles to induce the delegates to vote for him, a development which may have constituted vote buying, something the party preaches against.

The reported intention of the candidate begs the question why he had to wait till the election day before bringing the cars, and also taking them to the election grounds, but interestingly, not donating them after losing the polls.

It would be recalled that ahead of the party’s national congress that elected the current national executives, then National Chairman hopeful, Freddie Blay, promised to procure a van each for all the constituencies.

A few days to the poll, a section of those vans arrived at the Tema Port to a resounding celebration from his supporters who touted, among other things, that he was the man for the job.

Though other actions may have contributed to his eventual victory, many blamed same on that campaign gimmick, describing it as a form of vote-buying.

Like Mr Freddie Blay, Elisha Debrah Odoom also wanted to help ease the transport headaches at the party office, thus, his intended donation. However, the aftermath was the ‘sand that mixed with the gari’.

Meanwhile, efforts made to reach the defeated candidate for, at least, a brief comment failed to yield any positive results.

The NPP, over the weekend, voted to elect parliamentary candidates for their orphan constituencies. These constituencies are currently in the hands of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC).