{"id":92454,"date":"2025-09-02T17:31:13","date_gmt":"2025-09-02T17:31:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=92454"},"modified":"2025-09-02T17:31:13","modified_gmt":"2025-09-02T17:31:13","slug":"akwatia-by-election-we-love-money-were-waiting-to-get-paid-to-vote-residents","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=92454","title":{"rendered":"Akwatia by-election: \u201cWe love money; we\u2019re waiting to get paid to vote\u201d\u2014 Residents"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class='booster-block booster-read-block'>\n                <div class=\"twp-read-time\">\n                \t<i class=\"booster-icon twp-clock\"><\/i> <span>Read Time:<\/span>1 Minute, 25 Second                <\/div>\n\n            <\/div><div>\n<p>Some young women in Akwatia have openly stated that financial inducements from political parties heavily influence their voting decisions.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking to Accra-based Citi News during the by-election, they stated that, unlike the 2024 general elections, no money is being distributed by candidates or parties this time.<\/p>\n<p>Consequently, they do not feel motivated to go and vote.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDuring the 2024 election, we received money,\u201d one of them confessed. \u201cHowever, in this by-election, there is no money for us, and the police have also taken over the constituency. We are not getting anything.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Another added, \u201cWe love money, and that is how we have been trained. So we won\u2019t vote if we don\u2019t get the money.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The women explained that for many residents, particularly the youth, financial and material benefits often outweigh party manifestos or campaign promises.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe prioritise money in everything we do,\u201d one emphasized.<\/p>\n<p>The by-election in Akwatia was triggered by the death of sitting Member of Parliament Ernest Yaw Kumi in July 2025. The contest is a fierce battle between the New Patriotic Party\u2019s (NPP) Solomon Kwame Asumadu and the National Democratic Congress\u2019s (NDC) Bernard Bediako Baidoo.<\/p>\n<p>The Electoral Commission (EC) has assured stakeholders of a free and fair process, while the Ghana Police Service has deployed over 5,000 officers to maintain security across the constituency.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Watch the video below:<\/strong><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-media-max-width=\"560\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\"> #AkwatiaByElection: \u201cWe\u2019ve been trained this way. We love money!\u201d \u2014 Some Akwatia constituents express displeasure over the lack of monetary favors due to heavy security presence. One said she\u2019s waiting to be \u201cpaid\u201d before voting.<\/p>\n<p> Live coverage: https:\/\/t.co\/EaCzyMSIMA\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/HAZoDWvBuF<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 CITI FM 97.3 (@Citi973) September 2, 2025<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n        <div class=\"booster-block booster-reactions-block\">\n            <div class=\"twp-reactions-icons\">\n                \n                <div class=\"twp-reacts-wrap\">\n                    <a react-data=\"be-react-1\" post-id=\"92454\" class=\"be-face-icons un-reacted\" href=\"javascript:void(0)\">\n                        <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/wp-content\/plugins\/booster-extension\/\/assets\/icon\/happy.svg\" alt=\"Happy\">\n                    <\/a>\n                    <div class=\"twp-reaction-title\">\n                        Happy                    <\/div>\n                    <div class=\"twp-count-percent\">\n                                                    <span style=\"display: none;\" 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post-id=\"92454\" class=\"be-face-icons un-reacted\" href=\"javascript:void(0)\">\n                        <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/wp-content\/plugins\/booster-extension\/\/assets\/icon\/angry.svg\" alt=\"Angry\">\n                    <\/a>\n                    <div class=\"twp-reaction-title\">Angry<\/div>\n                    <div class=\"twp-count-percent\">\n                                                    <span style=\"display: none;\" class=\"twp-react-count\">0<\/span>\n                                                                        <span class=\"twp-react-percent\"><span>0<\/span> %<\/span>\n                        \n                    <\/div>\n                <\/div>\n\n                <div class=\"twp-reacts-wrap\">\n                    <a react-data=\"be-react-5\" post-id=\"92454\" class=\"be-face-icons un-reacted\" href=\"javascript:void(0)\">\n                        <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/wp-content\/plugins\/booster-extension\/\/assets\/icon\/surprise.svg\" alt=\"Surprise\">\n                    <\/a>\n                    <div class=\"twp-reaction-title\">Surprise<\/div>\n                    <div class=\"twp-count-percent\">\n                                                    <span style=\"display: none;\" class=\"twp-react-count\">0<\/span>\n                                                                        <span class=\"twp-react-percent\"><span>0<\/span> %<\/span>\n                                            <\/div>\n                <\/div>\n\n            <\/div>\n        <\/div>\n\n    ","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.myjoyonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/image-183-150x150.png\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"Akwatia by-election: \u201cWe love money; we\u2019re waiting to get paid to vote\u201d\u2014 Residents\" loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Akwatia by-election: \u201cWe love money; we\u2019re waiting to get paid to vote\u201d\u2014 Residents\">Some young women in Akwatia have openly stated that financial inducements from political parties heavily influence their voting decisions.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_2277560469115098_106292521332774":"","twitter_aToxNzczMzI3Njk4OTg4ODUxMjAxOw==_1773327698988851200":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3052,1525,117,10,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-92454","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-akwatia-by-election","category-money","category-news","category-politics","category-popular"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92454","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=92454"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92454\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=92454"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=92454"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=92454"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}