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NPP’s arrogant display of vote-buying, bad strategy backfired in Assin North – Prof. Gyampo
A political science lecturer at the University of Ghana says the discerning nature of the electorates in Assin North came to play at the just-ended by-election.
Prof Ransford Gyampo noted that the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) seemed to have underestimated the voters’ capacity to interpret hidden meanings and intentions behind some strategies implemented.
Prof Gyampo further elaborated that the residents comprehended the motives behind the sudden surge in developmental projects and the attempts at vote buying.
As a result, the lecturer believes they chose to “teach them [NPP] a lesson” by voting for the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) candidate, James Gyakye Quayson.
“The arrogant display of vote-buying; hurriedly going to construct roads, hurriedly going to commission new projects and then when you are quizzed, what you are told is that these were the projects that were already implemented and so it was already a programme that we were doing…” played a role in the decisions made by the residents.
Speaking on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show, the Professor said considering the fact that the Assin North electorates saw what ensued in Kumawu, using the same strategy was “quite insulting to the intelligence of the people of Ghana and it’s about time they change that strategy.”
“Because we know anytime there’s going to be a by-election, shoddy roads will be constructed and the moment by-elections are over, the project will be discontinued. When you go at them then they tell you that it was on our radar. We’re going to construct it anyway, it was not because of the by-election,” he said on Thursday, June 29.
“We are not daft people. The people of Assin North, too, are not dumb. They are able to read in between the lines. So if you’re a politician and you keep on resorting to this particular stomach direction, vote-buying attitude that you cannot think to vary your strategy in the light of the fact that people are now rational, then you yourself, you are more dumb than the people you are thinking are dumb”.
This was not the only reason he believed the NDC won the election. Another factor, the political scientist says, is the ongoing legal battle against James Gyakye Quayson.
On the night before the election, President Akufo-Addo, in a last-minute attempt to ramp up support for the NPP candidate, told the residents that they risk having a Member of Parliament embroiled in legal tussles by voting for Mr Gyakye Quayson.
Prof Gyampo says this was a mistake on the president’s part as far as election strategy is concerned as he rather courted more sympathy for the NDC.
“He [Akufo-Addo] made him popular, and then given what was happening to him or what is still happening to him and the fact that you have had a whole sitting President going to make a prejudicial comment that the man is already on his way to prison forgetting that Kwame Nkrumah won an election when he was already in incarceration. And I was surprised that the President didn’t know apart from the fact that the comments were too prejudicial, he didn’t know that that comment could also elicit more sympathy for the man.”
Background
James Gyakye Quayson of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) will be making a return to Parliament after his constituents kept faith with him and helped him win the keenly contested Assin North constituency by-election on Tuesday.
Officials of the Electoral Commission declared Quayson the victor, raising his hand to signal the status as NDC officials broke into their ‘Revo, Revo, has come to stay’ chorus.
Mr Quayson, ejected from Parliament last month following a Supreme Court decision to annul the 2020 constituency election, won the closely contested by-election with 17,245 votes representing 57.56% of valid votes.
His main rival, Charles Opoku of the New Patriotic Party polled 12,630 or 42.15% of valid votes to place second, while the Liberal Party of Ghana’s Bernice Enam Sefanu polled only 87 votes or 0.29%.
With a turnout of 74.23%, officials of the Electoral Commission (EC), in interviews shortly ahead of the declaration of results, indicated that the turnout was very high.
Credit:Myjoyonline.com
The Global Network of Export-Import Banks and Development Finance Institutions (G-NEXID) successfully held its sixth (6th) Exchange Programme, hosted by the Ghana Export – Import Bank (GEXIM) Bank in Accra from March 22 to 23 March.
The event brought together member institutions, partner organisations and Ghanaian public entities to advance dialogue on South-South trade, investment and development finance, while also creating opportunities for knowledge-sharing and institutional cooperation.
Organised as a capacity-building and networking platform, the 2026 edition of the G-NEXID Exchange focused on GEXIM’s experience in developing innovative solutions to promote intra-African and extra-African trade.
It also highlighted trade and investment opportunities in Ghana, particularly in the context of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and broader national development initiatives.
The Exchange Programme forms part of G-NEXID’s mandate to foster cooperation among export-import banks and development finance institutions in support of South-South trade and investment.
This 6th edition follows earlier successful programmes hosted by India Exim Bank (2016), BNDES (2017), Indonesia Eximbank (2018), Afreximbank (2019) and Saudi EXIM Bank (2025).
On the first day, participants were presented with G-NEXID institutional information and received an update on the Network’s 2026 work programme.
There were a series of substantive presentations, including an overview of the Ghanaian economy by the Ministry of Finance, with particular attention to debt-related challenges; a presentation by the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC), on investment opportunities in the country; and institutional presentations by GEXIM and Development Bank Ghana (DBG) on their respective mandates, initiatives, products and services.
Discussions during the sessions underscored strong interest in sector-focused webinars and business dialogues, particularly in agribusiness value chains such as poultry and rice.
Participants also emphasized the importance of continued information exchange and the sharing of best practices, especially in the area of guarantees.
The second day opened with a presentation on the 24-Hour Economy and Accelerated Export Development Programme, a national economic transformation strategy launched by President John Dramani Mahama in July 2025.
The initiative aims to enhance economic productivity through continuous industrial activity, accelerated export development and strategic import substitution.
As the programme is expected to mobilise both private and development capital, it presents concrete opportunities for G-NEXID members in areas such as co-financing, guarantees, trade finance and technical cooperation.
The programme also featured institutional presentations by guest organisations, namely the African Guarantee and Economic Cooperation Fund (FAGACE) and the West African Development Bank (BOAD), which shared their mandates, initiatives, products and services.
Following these exchanges, the G-NEXID Secretariat held bilateral discussions with both institutions as part of the Network’s ongoing membership drive.
Participants further benefited from a presentation by the Eastern and Southern African Trade and Development Bank (TDB), as well as a showcase of GEXIM’s key pipeline projects.
On the margins of the Exchange Programme, G-NEXID members also held their 20th Annual General Assembly Meeting to review progress and discuss strategic priorities.
Following the event, participants joined the GEXIM@10 International Conference, held from March 24-25, 2026 under the theme, “A Decade of Enabling Export Trade and Industrial Transformation: Resetting GEXIM for the Next Frontier.”
The conference provided an important platform for exploring how Ghana can strengthen its transition from a primary commodity exporter to a more competitive player in value-added trade and industrial development.
Source – G-NEXID
President John Dramani Mahama on Tuesday, March 31, 2026, signed five bills including three amendment bills passed by Parliament into law.
They are: Security and Intelligence Agencies Bill, 2025; University of Engineering and Agricultural Sciences Bill, 2025; Ghana Deposit Protection (Amendment) Bill, 2025; Growth and Sustainability Levy (Amendment) Bill, 2026; and Education Regulatory Bodies (Amendment) Bill, 2026.
In a brief remark after assenting to the bills, President Mahama explained that the Security and Intelligence Agencies Act, 2026, scraps the Office of Minister of National Security and frees the President’s to appoint any Minister to supervise the security agencies.
He said it also reverses the name of the office of National Intelligence Bureau (NIB), to the original name, Bureau of National Intelligence, (BNI).
This the President said, addresses the confusion between that security agency and a well-known Ghanaian financial institution, the National Investment Bank.
President Mahama also noted that the University of Engineering and Agricultural Sciences Act, 2026, establishes another University in the Eastern Region, at Bonsu, with three campuses – the main campus at Bonsu in the Eastern Region, with the second campus to be cited at Ohawu in the Oti Region.
The third, the Presdient assed will be located at Acherensua in the Ahafo Region.
Touching on the Amendment to the Growth and Sustainability Levy Act, the President said, “As you’re aware, the act was amended to increase it from 1% to 3%, and so this act reduces it again. That is the levy on mining companies. It reduces it again to 1%, because of the introduction of the sliding scale of royalties.”
He also spoke to the passage of the Government Education Regulatory Bodies Amendment Act, emphasising that amends Act 1023 to grant greater flexibility to private tertiary institutions and the option to Charter.
The Ghana Deposit Protection Amendment Act, the President concluded, is an amendment to an original act that was supposed to guarantee deposits held in commercial banks or financial institutions.
It basically expands protection to include mobile money wallets and other digital platforms, ensuring a wider scope of digital financial assets are secured.
The signing ceremony, was witnessed by the Clerk of Parliament, Mr. Ebenezer Ahumah Djietror, Secretary to the President, Dr Callistus Mahama, the Minister of Justice and Attorney General, Dr Dominic Akrutinga Ayine, Chief of Staff, Julius Debrah, Joyce Bawa Mogtari, a Senior Presidential Advisor and a Special Aide to the President, Finance Minister, Dr Cassiel Ato Baah Forson, and the Vice President, Professor Jane Naana Opoku Agyemang.
