Kwaku Sintim-Misa (KSM) has urged that constitutional clarity must guide political decisions rather than sentiment or suspicion.
Speaking on his YouTube show monitored by MyNewsGh, KSM insisted, “The law is the law, so if the law says that there must be a by-election, unfortunately, then there must be. If we don’t want it, then let’s get together and change the law. When we change the law, then nobody has anything to say.”
His comments came against the backdrop of the ruling New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) decision to withdraw from the impending Tamale Central by-election following the tragic passing of MP Ibrahim Murtala Mohammed.
According to KSM, the NPP has framed its withdrawal as an act of respect: “They are saying that for the respect of Mutala… in honour to pay respects to him, they don’t want to be seen as competing. They don’t even want to compete anymore, so they are pulling off. And trust me, intentions look very, very noble.”
But the satirist noted that Ghana’s political culture makes it difficult for such decisions to be taken at face value.
“This is Ghana, and this is politics. People are not trusting it. I’m watching the comments that are coming from left, right, and centre: ‘Oh no, no, no. These people, you can’t trust them.’ Why will people even say they don’t mean that?”
To probe the scepticism, KSM turned to the numbers. He cited the official results from the 2020 elections: the NPP’s Sulemana Salifu secured 16,647 votes, while Murtala Mohammed of the NDC won a commanding 52,263.
“So that’s what people are saying—that the margin and the gap was too huge, and they suspect that the NPP does not think it can really catch up and take that seat, and that’s why they are coming up with the reason to back off.”
