The newly elected Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Freddie Blay paid delegates at the recently held National Delegates Congress, according to the NPP’s Western Regional Chairman.
The Chairman, Ndede Siah said Blay paid each delegate GHS 1,500 and not 3,000 as being rumoured in the media.
He, however, also admitted that the main rival to Blay, Stephen Ntim also paid a certain amount to the delegates.
“It is not true Freddie Blay paid GHC3,000 to each delegate; but as transport expenses, Ntim gave each delegate ghc1,000 and Freddie Blay gave each 1,500,” he said.
Freddie Blay has been under a lot of flack for his opulence before and during the Congress. Many opposition politicians and civil society groups have called for him to be probed for buying 275 buses for the NPP.
Blay promised to equip NPP leaders at the constituency level by supplying each constituency a bus across the country. A promise he fulfilled by delivering 100 of the 275 buses a few days to the elections at Koforidua.
Siah admitted the money could have influence decisions of the delegates but added that oftentimes delegates take decisions of who to vote for before the day of the Congress. He decried the use of money in Ghana’s politics and called measures to stop the act.
Mr. Blay garnered 3,021 votes as against Ntim’s 2,515. The third candidate Dr. Amoako Baah managed a paltry 18 votes.