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0 National Democratic Congress (NDC) Ayawaso East parliamentary aspirant, Baba Jamal Mohammed Ahmed, popularly known as Baba Jamal, has defended the distribution of television sets to delegates during the party’s parliamentary primary.
He insisted that the gesture was not intended to influence voting decisions.
The campaign team of aspirant Baba Jamal Mohammed Ahmed offered 32-inch televisions to delegates who took part in the parliamentary primary in the Ayawaso East Constituency.
The team also distributed boiled eggs to delegates, a move that triggered brief jostling among some voters who attempted to access the food items.
Speaking to the media during the Ayawaso East NDC parliamentary primary, Baba Jamal confirmed that television sets had been given to some delegates but rejected claims that the act amounted to vote-buying.
“So if you give television sets to people, what is wrong with it when you give things to people?” he asked. “Is this the first time I am giving things to people?”
He explained that his actions were consistent with his long-standing personal practice of supporting people financially and materially, stressing that generosity had always been part of his public life.
“Those of you who know me know that every Christmas, every occasion, every instance, I have put down GHS 2.5 million free loans to give free loans to people,” he said. “So if today people are coming to vote and we are giving them something—what is wrong with that?”
Baba Jamal argued that the ethical issue was not the act of giving itself, but whether such gifts were allowed to influence voters’ choices.
- READ ALSO: Ayawaso East NDC Primary: Baba Jamal campaign distributes TV sets, food to delegates
“If somebody gives you a gift, you can take it,” he stated. “But allowing that gift to influence your vote is what is wrong. It is not the gift; it is allowing that gift to influence your vote that makes it wrong.”
He further justified the gesture as part of basic hospitality, noting that it would be unreasonable to gather delegates for an important political exercise without providing some form of support.
“You think you can bring all these people together and not give them water?” he asked. “It is not the item, it is the intention.”
The aspirant maintained that his campaign had focused primarily on engagement and dialogue rather than inducements, adding that he had interacted extensively with party members and delegates ahead of the primary.
“I don’t think that I have gone wrong,” he said. “I have spoken to them, met people. That is why I am still saying that I hope and trust that they will still reason with me and come along with me.”
