The 2020 polling station agents of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) have locked horns with executives of the party in the Tamale North Constituency in the northern region.
The friction according to information gathered by THE CUSTODIAN is as a result of alleged misappropriation of funds meant for the party’s polling station agents in the 7 December, 2020, general election.
The NPP had at most three agents at a particular polling station to observe the polls in the constituency on behalf of the party.
According to the aggrieved agents, the party national headquarters allocated two hundred Ghana cedis (GHS200) as T&T for each agent and an additional two hundred cedis as feeding fee for each polling station. However, they said each person received GHS100 as T&T after the polls.
The Tamale North constituency had 102 polling stations in the just ended parliamentary and presidential election.
The disgruntled agents numbering about two hundred (200) individuals today, Tuesday (29 December, 2020) called for an emergency meeting with the NPP constituency executives to demand for the remaining funds meant for them.
THE CUSTODIAN gathered that the meeting ended inclusive because the Constituency Chairman, Alhaji Haruna Yussif was not present. However, the constituency Secretary, Youth Organiser, Organiser, 1st Vice Chairman and 2nd Vice Chairman, Women Organiser, and the Treasurer were all present.
Some of the agitated agents spoke on condition of anonymity to THE CUSTODIAN said this is not the first time they have been shortchanged by executives of the party in an election.
“We understand the allocation done by the National Treasurer was GHS800 per polling station and then GHS200 was to take care of our food, water and others. So GHS300 cannot be accounted for in the remaining GHS600. But in other constituencies, our colleagues were paid GHS200 for their T&T and that is why we called for the meeting” one of the furious agents explained.
“The explanation they (executives) gave us was that they used the money carry some students to vote and sorting of the security and the rest. But we told them that they have misappropriated the funds. The money given to polling agents was different from what the party gave to the executives to run their activities, so you don’t have any right whatsoever to use our allocation to do whatever you like without our consent” he added.
Another angry agent also said, “If you calculate the 300 Ghana Cedis by the number of polling stations we have in the constituency, it’s a lot of money. We have 102 polling stations and if you do calculation you can imagine the amount involved.”
“We have given them up until this coming Monday to refund our money but they said they take a decision when the constituency Chairman returns from Accra” he added.
Meanwhile, THE CUSTODIAN has learnt the party gave an amount of GHS75, 000 to each parliamentary candidate and 20, 000 to the constituencies and an additional 10, 000 to constituency Chairmen for operational expenditure on the election day.
At press time however, none of the constituency executives was readily available to comment on the allegations of embezzlement.
