C/R: Cynthia Morrison accuses Afenyo Markin of vote buying
28th October 2024
Cynthia Mamle Morrison, a Member of Parliament for the Agona West, has voiced her displeasure with Effutu MP, Alexander Afenyo Markin, for consistently purchasing votes from her constituency.
Ahead of the elections on December 7th, Hon. Mamle Morrison, who has defected to run as an independent candidate, claims that the Effutu MP's behavior is impeding her attempts to have the Agona West District either split into two distinct districts or given municipal status.
Speaking in an interview with United Television (UTV), she claims that Alexander Afenyo Markin, the Effutu MP, pays GHC1,000 to voters in order to transfer them from the Agona West to the Effutu constituency.
This according to Hon. Morrison, is causing a population deficit and making it difficult for her to defend the division of the Agona West District in order to draw development to the area.
"During elections, numerous voters claim that Afenyo-Markin will offer them GHC1,000 if they register and vote in Effutu instead of Agona West. Despite the fact that there are many of us here, our votes are steadily decreasing," Cynthia Morrison lamented.
"Even though there are 31 electoral areas in Agona West District, 16 in Swedru, 15 in Agona East, 15 in Gomoa Central and 18 in Effutu, Parliament provides us with the same amount of funding, which is why I endure numerous trials to develop my area'" she added.
In order to obtain the necessary number to divide the area and bring about progress, she pleaded with the chiefs and citizens of Agona West to assist in stopping vote buying in the constituency.
Vote buying is a contentious issue in contemporary discourse on the sustainability of democratic development in Ghana.
This practice is gradually crippling electoral processes and undermining the efforts of the electoral umpire in conducting competitive, free, fair, and credible elections for the sustenance of democratic development in Ghana.
A recent web leak showed a few Effutu voters participating in a vote-buying swearing-in ceremony at a river close to Hon. Afenyo-Markin's home in Winneba. Despite the MP's denials that he was involved in or oversaw the swearing-in event, the characters in the film stated that they were paid GHC1,000 to cast their votes for him [Afenyo] and the NPP.