I had no motivation to vote against Prof Oquaye - MP Adwoa Safo

The Member of Parliament (MP) for Dome Kwabenya, Sarah Adwoa Safo has denied rumours that she voted against the New Patriotic Party (NPP) nominee for the position of Speaker during the last sitting of the 7th Parliament.

In a statement issued across her social media profiles, the former Deputy Majority Leader of the Seventh Parliament said she found the "vile rumours" absurd and urged the general public to disregard them.

It will be recalled that the NPP nominee and Speaker of the Seventh Parliament Professor Aaron Mike Oquaye lost the elections for the Speaker of the Eighth Parliament to the National Democratic Congress nominee Alban Kingsford Sumani Bagbin on January 7.

With the 275 parliamentary seats split almost evenly between the NDC and NPP with 137 seats each and one independent candidate, Bagbin won with 138 votes while Oquaye polled 136 votes, fuelling speculation that some NPP MP's voted against the party's nominee.

Mrs Safo has been named among the suspects by some social media users but she insists she had no motivation to vote against the NPP nominee.

"It is being alleged that I voted against Prof Oquaye because he [Prof Oquaye] allowed his son to contest me in the recent past Dome Kwabenya parliamentary primaries of the NPP in the run up to the 2020 general elections. How absurd!," the statement said.

"I wish to state emphatically that, there is no iota of truth in these vile rumours and speculations, and I call on all and sundry to completely disregard same. For the avoidance of doubt, I wish to state without any shred of doubt that, I, Sarah Adwoa Safo, voted for Prof Mike Oquaye.

"I had absolutely no motivation to vote otherwise. In the over 20 years of my active political life, I have always stood for and publicly supported decisions of my party, the NPP. My unquenchable loyalty and commitment to the NPP over decades can certainly not be shaken by an ordinary internal contest within the party. At every stage of my parliamentary political life, I have been contested, and at no point have I begrudged my fellow contestants".

She also stated that she was the only female Member of Parliament who spoke in support of the party’s nominee in Parliament before the election.

Read the entire statement below;

January 13, 2021
Press Release

I VOTED FOR PROF MIKE OQUAYE; DISREGARD RUMORS TO THE CONTRARY - SARAH ADWOA SAFO

My attention has been drawn to rumours and wild speculations on mainline and social media suggesting that I, Sarah Adwoa Safo, voted against Prof Mike Oquaye, the NPP’s nominee for the position of Speaker during the last sitting of the 7th Parliament on the dawn of 7th January, 2021.

It is being alleged that I voted against Prof Oquaye because he [Prof Oquaye] allowed his son to contest me in the recent past Dome Kwabenya parliamentary primaries of the NPP in the run up to the 2020 general elections. How absurd!

I wish to state emphatically that, there is no iota of truth in these vile rumours and speculations, and I call on all and sundry to completely disregard same. For the avoidance of doubt, I wish to state without any shred of doubt that, I, Sarah Adwoa Safo, voted for Prof Mike Oquaye.

I had absolutely no motivation to vote otherwise. In the over 20 years of my active political life, I have always stood for and publicly supported decisions of my party, the NPP. My unquenchable loyalty and commitment to the NPP over decades can certainly not be shaken by an ordinary internal contest within the party. At every stage of my parliamentary political life, I have been contested, and at no point have I begrudged my fellow contestants.

Whilst it is indeed true that since 2007, I have been contesting in the Dome Kwabenya parliamentary primaries of the party, it is undeniable, that, regardless of the outcome of each contest, I never hesitated in deploying my time and resources at the disposal of the party to ensure that Dome Kwabenya remains our traditional stronghold election after election.

Also, as a firm believer of our democratic tenets, which is one of the founding principles of the NPP, I have never, and can never hold any grudge with any person(s) that contest me in our party's primaries. It therefore comes to me, as not only egregious, but also highly unconscionable for anyone to suggest that I would betray my party merely because I was contested in the recent parliamentary primaries of the party.

Beyond that, it must also be recalled that I contributed to the debate on the floor of parliament at that special sitting, making a solid case for the party’s nominee, Prof Mike Oquaye to be re-elected as the Speaker of the august house.

Instructively, I was the only female Member of Parliament who spoke for the party’s nominee on that faithful day. Having made a case for the re-election of Prof Mike Oquaye as Speaker, what at all would be my motivation to vote against him? This, certainly, beggars belief.

Also, as the immediate past Deputy Majority Leader and a 3-term Member of Parliament, I am not oblivious of the devastating consequences of not having the Speaker on the side of the governing party. I therefore could not have contemplated putting my party and government in such an uncomfortable and dire situation by voting against the party’s nominee for the position of Speaker.

Notwithstanding the viciousness of these malicious allegations against my person, I remain resolute and focused on my work as a Member of the august house to the service of my constituents, my party and of course, the government of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in delivering prosperity to the Ghanaian people.

...Signed...
SARAH ADWOA SAFO(HON.)
MP, DOME KWABENYA