Professor Kobby Mensah, a political marketing strategist, says the prevailing challenges of the monetisation of politics in Ghana is due to failed leadership.
He said the failure of the political leadership in the country to fulfil their democratic mandate compelled them to offset such duties by “inducing” the electorate with money.
“The job that we give the political leaders in the country has clear mandates that they are supposed to perform. When you still want to cling to political power, you have to present yourself to the citizens to renew your mandate.
I do not agree that the people are actually demanding the money, but it is the leaders that have failed to exercise their mandate since they want to cling to power and mobilise resources to induce the voters.
He said this during an X-Space discussion, which was organised and moderated by Citizens for Fair Politics, a social movement campaigning against vote-buying ahead of the 2024 General Election.
The advocacy group operates under the motto “Sell your vote; mortgage your future”.
It aims to engage in a series of policy discussions online and in person to minimise the monetisation of Ghana’s politics.
The online discussion was monitored by a considerable number of Ghanaian youth who asked questions and shared insights on how to minimise the monetisation of Ghanaian politics.
Ghana has been practising multiparty democracy since the creation of a new constitution in 1992.
The country has successfully held eight elections.
In the run-up to the 2024 elections, the two major political parties have organised internal elections to present suitable candidates for parliamentary and presidential elections.
The process was marred by incessant accusations levelled against candidates that they had induced party delegates with money to vote in their favour.
Civil society organisations (CSOs) have bemoaned the emerging trend of the monetization of Ghana’s politics.
According to the Centre for Democratic Development (CDD), it will not cost less than $100 million to win a presidential election in Ghana, whereas parliamentarians also need at least $4 million to win elections.
It said those challenges could be attributed to the high cost of elections, which was occasioned by the monetisation of politics.
Prof. Mensah said the habit of inducing voters during elections was occasioned by the absence of political consciousness and ideology among the voting population.
He called for deliberate efforts among the electorate to appeal to their conscience in the course of electing leaders by emphasising competence over financial influence.
“For me, to end this challenge, it is about the citizens responding to their conscience.
Voting is a conscience activity, and if you do not want to go against your conscience, you do not necessarily take the money from these politicians because if you take the money, you have agreed not to vote in a particular way.
If you appeal to your ideology, you will not take money to vote,“ he said.
He also urged the media to probe and unravel how political parties finance their campaigns.
