The New Patriotic Party’s candidate in the Ayawaso East by-election, Baba Ali Yussif, has attributed the strikingly low voter turnout to alleged vote-buying during the National Democratic Congress primaries and a growing sense of disillusionment among constituents.
Only 17,048 out of 49,960 registered voters participated in Tuesday’s poll, a turnout of roughly 34 percent. Speaking on Metro TV’s Good Afternoon Ghana, Baba Ali said the reported vote-buying in the NDC primaries played a major role in discouraging people from coming out to vote.
“Secondly, the NDC primaries, the vote-buying issue is also one of the key factors that affected voter turnout,” he explained. “They, the voters, the electorates, will also want to get their share, and some of them decided to stay away. If you are not bringing it, they are not voting.”
He said some residents even quoted specific amounts they believed NDC delegates had received, with figures like GH¢10,000 per delegate being mentioned. Baba Ali suggested that voters saw the primaries as a cash opportunity and expected the same from the by-election.
“I had voters who mentioned that. They said the NDC delegates were giving, some had 10,000 each, and so we should also give them money,” he stated. “If you have three candidates giving 3,000, one other candidate giving 1,000, that’s 10,000.”
The NPP candidate firmly rejected the practice, arguing that treating public office as a business transaction harms communities in the long run.
“I thought if you are asking a politician to give you money to go and vote, that politician, when he or she wins, would have to find a way to recoup all that money before he would think about development in your community,” he said. “I thought that we should educate voters and let them understand that that position is a position of service, not a position where people will buy and use it for business.”
Baba Ali also pointed to a third factor: declining trust in government delivery.
“The third factor is that I realise that people have lost confidence in their governments,” he said. “If the government of the day is not able to do what is supposed to be done in the constituency, people felt that then there’s no need to go out there and vote again.”
Despite the low participation, he expressed satisfaction with the overall conduct of the election.
“We were satisfied with the process. I’ve monitored elections. This particular election from our engagement with EC and even the police, yes, everything was okay. Free, fair, and very credible election,” he said.
The Electoral Commission’s final figures showed Baba Jamal Mohammed Ahmed of the NDC winning decisively with 10,884 votes (63 percent), while Baba Ali received 4,009 votes (23 percent). Independent candidate Mohammed Umar Sanda polled 1,885 votes, with the remaining candidates far behind.
Baba Ali noted that Ghana’s electoral system allows victory by simple majority regardless of turnout, unlike some democracies where low participation can void a poll.
“In other democracies, if the voter turnout does not reach 50 percent, the election will be void,” he said. “But we are operating a system where it’s a simple majority. It doesn’t matter the turnout. Anyhow it happens so long as we are able to get a winner.”
The low turnout has reignited national discussions about voter apathy in by-elections, with analysts pointing to economic hardships, political fatigue and perceptions of limited local impact as key reasons many stayed away. The result, however, confirms the NDC’s strong hold on the constituency while highlighting the challenges facing opposition parties in established strongholds.
