Private legal practitioner Martin Kpebu has condemned the monetization of Ghana’s politics.
He says such practice needs to be condemned.
Speaking on the Key Points on TV3 Saturday, May 13, Mr Kpebu indicated that money sharing by politicians is a blot on Ghana’s democracy.
“It is a big blot on our democracy, it affects the kind of leaders we have, so it means that the elections are to the highest bidder, the one who has more money is able to win and even when it comes to the presidential primaries, it is money… the businessman who used his money to support the candidate is not Father Christmas, he is a hard note businessman, very greedy for profit, so once the candidate wins he is coming for his money through contracts.
“As for money in our elections, is no secret and we have to make as much noise about it as possible because if we don’t it will get worst,” he said while contributing to a discussion on the GH ¢40 that was given to each delegate of the NDC by former President John Dramani Mahama, to enable them to get to the voting centers in Saturday’s presidential and parliamentary primaries.
He added “It appears the corruption in our elections is not going anywhere so we really have to do something about it because sometimes you look at the candidate and you will note that but for money this person should not be a candidate… you see fine brains and intellectuals in the party but they cannot become flagbearers because they don’t have the connections and all that. Let us talk about it as often as we can because we definitely have to change.
“Sometimes you look at the candidate and you this corruption is going to continue because of how the candidate gets into office, people are sponsoring them and once people continue to sponsor them, these businessmen will act to recoup their money and how are they going to recoup their money, they will recoup through crooked procurement contracts.”
Regarding the money, the Spokesperson of Mr Mahama, Joyce Bawa Mogtari said in a statement that “The Campaign believes supporting the delegates to travel to the centers will ensure a high voter turnout and every voter will be empowered to vote and return home without financial impediment in these difficult economic times.”
Also, Madam Juliana Kinang-Wassan, one of the Parliamentary aspirants for the Ejura Sekyedumase Constituency, was seen spraying money at a crowd during the elections on Saturday at Ejura Sekyedumase, in the Ashanti Region, an action the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) is investigating.
The OSP said it considered her as a person necessary for investigation.
“You are directed to attend the Office of the Special Prosecutor at 6 Haile Selassie Avenue, South Ridge, Accra on Thursday, May 18, 2023, at 10 am for interviewing.
“You may be accompanied by counsel of your choice,” a letter from the OSP said.
The Police also said that they were assessing the conduct of the aspirant
“A dedicated legal team is currently scrutinising her conduct in the video to establish whether there are elements of election-related crime to warrant Police intervention or otherwise,” the Police said in a statement.
But a Former Minister of Health Alex Segbefia said the monetization of politics in Gana was created by the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
In his view, his party the NDC picked that habit from the NPP.
“In 1992 and 1996, even up to 2000 bribery issue was a thing of the past. I am putting it squarely in the house of the NPP that this monetization of our system came to pass in a big way from 2004 onwards and it was a creation, to the extent to which we are seeing it now, of the NPP.
“Unfortunately, we in the NDC have learned bad habits. I am not absorbing ourselves in any way from it,” he said on the Key Points on TV3 Saturday.
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