The Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu, is calling for immediate actions to be taken to curb the canker of monetization in Ghana’s politics.
The Suame Member of Parliament noted that both the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) are guilty of the act.
Speaking at the ‘Meet the Press’ series in Accra on Wednesday, he stated that Parliament will suffer immensely if the trend is not curbed.
“Let’s face it. There is nowhere in a democracy where at the end of a tenure of office the process of choosing is reduced to just a game where people from within the country and outside say to the electorate that, we are ready, remove the incumbent member of Parliament and introduce a new member,” he said.
He further noted that the phenomenon has denied citizens the right calibre of representation and leadership as political positions are now being sold to the highest bidder in this open political market, denying competent and committed people, who lack the financial power, an opportunity to serve.
“When you ask some of them, they say there are no developments often times that is the refrain. There are no developments in the constituency, I want to be there to ensure democracy. But they don’t go through the appropriate process and thereby end up not performing their functions as the constitution demands,” he added.
“There is a growing tendency in Ghana’s politics that defies the fundamental principles of democracy. The increasing monetization of politics has become a colossal threat to the country’s democracy. Politicians have resorted to financial and other physical inducement of voters for political advantage. Democratic elections that must depict the contest of ideas, policies and programmes are now being characterised by money sharing and other forms of gifts such as bags of rice, cars, motorbikes, etc.”
“It has become common, for political opponents to accuse each other of vote-buying and other unconventional strategies in every electoral process yet no effort has been made to put a stop to the act,” he added.
