Ghana: International analysts say Woyome could cost NDC the 2012 elections

The Woyome payment saga is shaping up to be a major issue in election year, with the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) continuing to support protests about National Democratic Congress (NDC) corruption and making a series of allegations. To this one can add matters like the fuel price controversy, and the internal NDC divisions that have been exposed by Woyome and perhaps led to the removal of attorney general Martin Amidu in the first place.

The London-based Economist Intelligence Unit has now stated that “the negative impact on the election prospects of the NDC and Mr Mills should not be underestimated”, which is unsurprising given its effect on Mills' reputation because he must either have:

known about the payment to Woyome and taken no action, which he denies;
known about the payment but requested it not be made, which is what was suggested in the recent interim EOCO report; or
have had no knowledge of the payments whatsoever as he claimed recently which means either that Mills has shown poor judgement or that his team believes that they can simply ignore his commands and/or not even inform him about important matters.
That international observers are now speculating on the scandal's potential effect on the elections means that the scandal has been noticed overseas, and it is only a matter of time before observers ask whether it could add to the tension of extremely close elections which are, as the EIU suggests, high stake, given the access to future oil revenues and patronage that Ghana's fledging oil industry brings.

For more news and expert analysis about Ghana, please see Ghana Politics & Security.

© 2012 Menas Associates