We don’t buy votes, that’s not NDC’s way – Tanko-Computer

Tanko-Computer has rejected claims that the NDC engaged in vote buying during the Akwatia by-election.

The Deputy Director of Elections and IT of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Rashid Tanko-Computer, has dismissed accusations of voter inducement in the Akwatia by-election, declaring, We don’t buy votes, that’s not NDC’s way.”

He argued that the allegations of vote buying are baseless and go against the principles on which the NDC has always operated.

In an interview on JoyNews, Tanko-Computer stressed that the NDC’s track record speaks for itself. “I can speak for my party, the NDC, that we are not involved in these acts of vote buying. Indeed, it has not been part of us; it is not part of our processes. We hardly do that in any of our elections,” he said, adding once again that “we don’t buy votes; that’s not NDC’s way.”

The NDC elections officer further pointed to the party’s landslide victory in the 2024 general elections as proof that the NDC’s message, not money, won the support of Ghanaians. According to him, if the party had depended on inducements, it would never have achieved such a resounding win. “If we were to be involved in vote buying, do you think we would have won the 2024 election? Look at the massive victory Ghanaians gave us. Do we have that kind of money?” he questioned, stressing that the vote-buying accusations are misplaced.

He also argued that after spending eight years in opposition, the NDC simply lacked the resources to engage in such practices, unlike the New Patriotic Party (NPP). “Being in opposition for eight years, we couldn’t have matched the NPP with the huge sums of money they were dishing out everywhere. But we won because we had a superior message, and the people trusted us enough to give us their votes,” Tanko-Computer explained.

Beyond Akwatia, he said the NDC government’s early economic interventions have already made life easier for citizens, reducing the need for inducements. “We have done enough for them. The people are living testimonies. They are telling us what they used to buy in the market, but now the prices have been slashed drastically. So, they have a lot more money in their pockets. They are enjoying these things, so why would we need to use money to induce them?” he asked.

Turning the spotlight on his opponents, Tanko-Computer alleged that the NPP has long made vote buying part of its political culture. “It is our colleagues — that is their modus operandi. They have been doing it for years. And even today, they haven’t changed. They are still out there sharing money left and right,” he claimed.