The Director of Strategy, Research, and Communications at the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP), Sammy Darko, has refuted allegations that the office is unfairly targeting the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in its investigations concerning purported vote buying.
He stated that the OSP’s choice to probe allegations stemming from both the New Patriotic Party (NPP) presidential primaries and the recently conducted NDC Ayawaso East parliamentary primaries was strictly based on legal grounds and evidence, devoid of any partisan bias.
In an interview on Monday, February 9, 2026, Mr. Darko clarified that the OSP’s announcement was not meant to highlight any specific political party.
“This announcement is not solely focused on the events at Ayawaso East or the NPP primaries. It serves as a general reminder to Ghanaians that vote buying and vote selling are illegal and that we must avoid such practices,” he remarked.
He further explained that the structure of the announcement had been misinterpreted by certain critics.
“In the two paragraphs, one can grasp the rationale behind our actions in both cases. Therefore, I find it perplexing how some individuals interpreted the statement, claiming we allocated only one paragraph to the NPP while the remainder was for the NDC. That reasoning does not hold,” Mr. Darko asserted.
He emphasized that the OSP simply presented the cases in a sequential manner.
“It is simply that we mentioned the NPP in paragraph one and the NDC in paragraph two. In paragraph three, we elaborated on what we are investigating in those cases,” he clarified.
Mr. Darko also revealed that the statement gave extra focus to one individual due to an alleged assault on an OSP officer while performing official duties during the election.
“We allocated more attention to a specific candidate because that candidate had assaulted an OSP officer while carrying out this work during the election,” he stated.
The OSP, in a statement released on Sunday, February 8, 2026, declared that it had initiated investigations into purported vote buying that occurred during the NPP presidential primaries on January 31 and the NDC Ayawaso East parliamentary primary on February 7.
During the NDC primary in Ayawaso East, there were reports indicating that delegates were given 32-inch television sets, coolers, and boiled eggs from the faction of Mohammed Baba Jamal Ahmed.
Likewise, during the NPP presidential primary, allegations arose that supporters of different candidates distributed cash to delegates either before or after the voting process, which reportedly resulted in dissatisfaction among delegates who asserted that they did not receive their portion.
