The Deputy General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Haruna Mohammed, has debunked claims by the Chairman of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) that the party pushed wives of late Members of Parliament (MP) to replace them after their demise.

Johnson Asiedu Nketia raised concerns about the lack of progress in solving the murders of some NPP MPs and highlighted the alarming trend of violence in Ghanaian politics.

"The country is degenerating into a situation where people can kill for power and get away with it," he said.

Referring to the cases of J.B. Danquah Adu, Ekow Quansah Hayford, and John Kumah, the outspoken politician alleged that all said MPs were killed under mysterious circumstances.

"This is a critical issue the police should be addressing the nation, as to the steps they are taking. We haven’t heard anything so far. We haven’t heard anything about how they are proceeding to find the killers of the Mfantseman MP. For J.B. Danquah Adu’s case, the state withdrew the case and there was a public outcry. They claimed they were investigating the issue."

"At some point, they said the laptop of the doctor who carried out the post-mortem had been stolen, such cock and bull stories. About three MPs have been killed and all that we hear is that their wives have been rehabilitated into parliament to replace their husbands. Is that where our democracy is moving?” he quizzed.

• Read also: Asiedu Nketia questions why no one has been arrested over John Kumah’s death

But, responding to this concern on Joy FM’s Top Story on April 12, NPP's Haruna Mohammed clarified that the wives of J.B. Danquah and Ekow Quansah Hayford contested various elections because they wanted to.

Referencing the late Ejisu MP's wife, Apostle Mrs Lilian Kumah, he stated that if the NDC Chairman's assessment of events was true, Dr John Kumah's wife would also be contesting in the upcoming primaries.

“All the widows who contested in by-elections contested on demand because NPP is a party of law. They decided to contest because there was a vacancy to contest. You know in Ejisu's case, the widow did not contest because she is not willing to contest. So, we have not forced anybody to contest,” he said

Additionally, Mr Mohammed said the NDC was only politicising and making a mountain out of a molehill, probably because they did not have a candidate to contest in the upcoming polls.

“They should just tell us that they do not have an alternative, they don’t have the men to contest for elections in this country and we will move on there. If we are to throw these accusations here and there, I believe the NDC will be taken much more aback."

"This is not the first time the NDC has refused to contest in a by-election. Remember in Ayawaso-West Wuogon. They were in and they decided to withdraw… they should not sit on the fence and be suggesting to the people of Ghana what happened, they should come forth,” he added.