Mr Frederick F. Anto, Ashanti Region Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), has denied there was a smear campaign against the National Democratic Congress (NDC) parliamentary candidate for the Kumawu bye-election.

"Planning a smear campaign against an opponent is an indecorous way of conducting an electioneering campaign and that will definitely not be one of the methods to be used by the NPP of which I am the regional chairman", Mr Anto said in a statement issued in Kumasi.

It was in reaction to a statement by Mr Emmanuel Nti-Fordjour, Ashanti Region Chairman of NDC that there was a smear campaign and deliberate lies being bandied in the Kumawu constituency by the NPP to poison the minds of the electorates and ridicule the NDC candidate.

It was alleged the NDC candidate, Mr Richard Martin Osei, stole electric poles whilst serving as the Presiding Member for the Sekyere East District Assembly. Mr Anto said what he told the rally was that before the 2000 elections, the then government had decided to extend electricity to Abotanso and Asekyerewa in the constituency and 41 million cedis was released for the project.

He said Mr Martin Osei, who at the time was the Presiding Member and Mrs Cecilia Johnson and Mr Kwame Peprah, both ex-ministers of the NDC government, to divert the amount meant for the purchase of the electric poles, prevailed upon other top hierarchy of the Assembly.

Mr Anto said the amount was used as NDC campaign funds, saying, this revelation was contained in an Auditor-General's report on the financial administration of the Sekyere East District Assembly, stressing "this is not anybody's cooked story."

He said the NPP believed that the people should not vote for such persons who could not demonstrate any commitment to his own people in a small way. "It would be a disaster to entrust the hopes and aspirations of the people in the whole constituency into the hands of such persons," the statement added.