Apart from Baba Jamal, sanction other candidates in Ayawaso East voter inducement allegation who are gov't appointees - Fiifi Kwetey urges President Mahama

President John Dramani Mahama has been urged that apart from Baba Jamal, there were other candidates in last Saturday's National Democratic Congress (NDC) parliamentary primary in the Ayawaso East constituency who are in positions of appointment by the government, and ought to be sanctioned similarly as has happened to Baba Jamal in the wake of allegations of voter inducement in line with the code of conduct for public officials.

The General Secretary of the NDC, Fifi Fiavi Kwetey, who said this, indicated that there was one other candidate in last Saturday's NDC primary who, based on the report of the investigative committee, was also involved in voter inducement.

Mohammed Baba Jamal Ahmed, who contested and won the primary and was Ghana's High Commissioner to Nigeria, was recalled from his position following allegations of voter inducement in the primary in which he participated.

The communication from the presidency, which announced his recall, indicated that he was being sanctioned because he was a public officer among the contestants, even though the allegations of vote-buying were made against multiple candidates who contested the primary.

But speaking to the media after the investigative committee formed by the NDC to look into the allegation had presented its report to the Functional Executive Committee of the party, Mr Fifi Kwetey said the party also wanted to signal that it takes into consideration the step taken by the President, and that the President acted purely on the back of what happened on that occasion by asking for Baba Jamal to be recalled.

"We think that was appropriate by the President, but we also want to urge the President that apart from Baba Jamal, we think two other candidates involved are also in positions of appointment. We think they are on various boards, and similar measures should be taken [against them] as well, to make sure that we, as a party, anyone who was involved in this inappropriate conduct, have to be punished once they are appointed by the government, so that is what we are recommending to the President to take [action].

He indicated that the party was also going to do a comprehensive review of the whole process, which leads into the internal elections and that is why four more members will be added to the Mr Kofi Totobi Quakyi-led 3-member committee for them to do an extensive work.

From the report of the committee, it came to light that with the exception of one candidate, all four other candidates in the parliamentary primary were involved in voter inducement.

The report said apart from Najib Mohammed Sani, all four others, including Baba Jamal and the widow of the late MP, Hajia Amina Adam were involved in the voter inducement allegation.

This, according to Mr Kwetey is why the President has to act against government appointees cited in the voter inducement claims linked to the primary.

Hajia Adam, who serves on the boards of Prestea Sankofa Gold Mines and the Ghana Hajj Board, was among five candidates found by the inquiry to have engaged in monetary inducements during the primary held on February 7.

When asked whether the party would sanction other candidates found culpable, Mr Kwetey repeated: "I just answered that. I just told you that apart from Baba Jamal, there are others who are part of the five, who are also appointees of the government. So our recommendation is the President should take the step also to be able to take them out of whatever position they are in."

Mr Inusah Fuseini, a former Member of Parliament for Tamale Central and member of the investigative committee also gave details in a radio interview on Radio Gold in Accra on Wednesday about the scale of inducements during the contest.

Mr Fuseini said delegates received "not less than GH¢10,000" each from all candidates combined, adding that the "standard going amount" stood at GH¢3,000 per candidate.

He stated: "Aside Najib who got one vote, it was established that he didn't give anybody anything. Everybody else dropped something."

According to Mr Fuseini, the committee interviewed regional executives, the director of elections, the General Secretary, the director of special operations, Ludwig Hlordze, the deputy national organiser, constituency executives and all five candidates.

He said the process found "widespread breaches of the principles, values and ideology of the party."

He explained: "There were material and monetary inducements that took place in the primary of the Ayawaso East constituency that could induce voters to act one way or the other. And that had the propensity to change the outcome of the election."

Mr Fuseini added: "We came to the conclusion that those inducements violated, breached certain provisions of laws that we have in Ghana, especially the Constitution of the Republic of Ghana, the Political Parties Act, the regulations, the C.I. 127 issued by the Electoral Commission."

He said the committee also assessed whether the outcome could be annulled and identified legal constraints. "One such legal hurdle would be whether or not the party can cancel an election conducted and supervised by the Electoral Commission, which has certified the results of that election as fair, transparent and valid," he stated.

Mr Fuseini said the party constitution did not provide grounds for cancellation after certification. "We perused the entire NDC constitution. And there is no provision in the constitution of the NDC that grants the power to any structure of the party to annul elections after they have been so conducted," he said.

Mr Kwetey confirmed that despite the findings, the party proceeded with the declared winner due to time limits and legal barriers. "Given the difficulties of time and also the legal challenges, we have no option but to present Baba Jamal, who actually won, according to the Electoral Commission's declaration," he said.

Mr Baba Jamal secured 431 votes against Hajia Adam's 399, with the Electoral Commission requiring the party to field a candidate by February 11, 2026.

Mr Kwetey said the investigative committee would be expanded from three to seven members to review the party's primary processes.

"That seven-member committee will extensively come up with recommendations as to how we can once and for all deal with this, shall I call it, canker, which has to do with anything that amounts to inappropriate conduct as far as primaries are concerned," he stated.

The March 3, 2026 by-election followed the death of Mahama Naser Toure, on January 4, 2026. He was the representative of the Ayawaso East constituency in Parliament on the ticket of the NDC.