Former Member of Parliament for Okaikwei North constituency, Fuseini Issah, has bemoaned the prevalence of vote-buying in Ghana's politics, but pointed out that the practice cannot be said to be the preserve of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP).
To him, it is widespread among all the major political parties in the country and prescribes a national conversation to correct these anomalies within the political space as a means of tackling the issue.
While admitting the just ended NPP parliamentary primaries in constituencies with incumbent MPs was characterized by incidents of monetization, Hon Fuseini held that monetization is engaged in by all politicians irrespective of their political affiliations.
"I want us to look at this within a bigger framework. If you narrow it to just the New Patriotic Party, you will be getting it wrong because it is not exclusive to the New Patriotic Party...As a nation, we have actually crafted rules that border some of these things and if we consistently get it wrong, I think it is time we call for a national conversation,’’ he stated on Monday's edition of TV3's "New Day" morning show.
The former NPP MP attributed the exit of some capable legislators in Parliament which potentially hinder the effective functioning of the parliamentary process to some of these inducements.
He, however, also proposed that the conversation on how political parties are funded should be one of the topical issues that has to be discussed so that the perennial incidence of vote-buying during elections is curtailed.
"For me, I will extend it to the funding of political parties……and how we are going to police against some of the ills to ensure that we don’t only get the right candidate but able to strengthen the institution of parliament.....otherwise, there would come a time when people without the expertise and competence will be voted into parliament....the Parliament of Ghana needs to be strengthened with the best MPs.....monetisation is weakening parliament by the day," Hon Issah Fuseini added.
<<Print>>