With just few more days before Ghana’s presidential and parliamentary elections on Sunday, there has been a controversy over a poll conducted by the country’s Bureau of National Investigation (BNI).
The BNI, an equivalent of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) said its poll shows ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) candidate Nana Akufo-Addo will win over 52 percent of the votes, while main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) candidate John Atta Mills will get 42 percent.
Reporter Peter Clottey who is in Ghana for the elections said the main opposition NDC is not happy about the Bureau of National Investigation meddling in politics.
“The opposition parties are contending that the BNI doesn’t have the mandate to conduct polls ahead of Sunday’s elections. They are saying that since the BNI is a government institution it is compromising itself by declaring or projecting who would win the election. They think that since it’s a security agency and it is an arm of government, it is politically biased,” he said.
Clottey said the controversial poll is the second the BNI has conducted under the ruling New Patriotic Party.
“Under previous administrations the BNI did not meddle into politics. So that is where people are drying sharp contrast. You have supporters of the New Patriotic Party saying that this (BNI poll) is a true reflection of what is happening on the ground because the New Patriotic Party has done so much for the country, it is popular and would be retained by Ghanaians to carry out the good work of President (John) Kufuor has done. The opposition are contending that it is bad for the BNI to be using government resources to conduct polls that favor the government,” Clottey said.
He said the BNI poll has been one of the main topics of discussion in the Ghanaian media.
“On Wednesday there was a big discussion on radio stations about the BNI poll, whether it was credible or not. Apart from that, radio stations are also focusing on issues, comparing and contrasting what previous governments and the incumbent government has done. Now the CPP, which is the first party to ever rule Ghana, said that when Dr Kwame Nkrumah was in power he started the infrastructure development of Ghana. The National Democratic Congress said under the 21 or more years’ rule of President Jerry Rawlings it did a lot of good. But President Kufuor’s ruling party said it has surpassed all the development programs of previous governments, and therefore should be given another chance to rule the country,” Clottey said.