Stop the “Money Bag Politics”

…NPP presidential aspirant warns

Ahead of what is turning out to be another heated flagbearership race for the opposition NPP, one of the first persons to declare interest in becoming president says the contest is becoming too expensive to run.

Heart surgeon of international repute, Prof. Kwame Frimpong-Boateng fears if what he calls “moneycracy” in Ghanaian politics is not checked and dealt with, it would deter noble people from going into politics.

Such heated flagbearership contests like the one witnessed in the NPP in the 2008 Presidential and Parliamentary contests bring about what has become known as “Moneycracy or Vote buying syndrome,” in the politics of this country where delegates of political parties are given money before they meet political office seekers to listen to their campaign messages.

In some instances, delegates are camped and fed in plush hotels and given huge sums of money to coerce them to vote in a particular way.

In the last contest, there were bizarre reports of some aspirants asking delegates who took money from them to swear oaths before dreaded deities to vote for them or be killed if they did otherwise.

Prof. Frimpong-Boateng, who contested the last flagbearership contest of the NPP told The Herald in an interview that the excessive commercialization of politics in Ghana is the reason there’s widespread corruption in the country. But he would not disclose how much he has budgeted for his ongoing campaign. On his chances to lead the NPP, Prof. Frimpong-Boateng told the paper that he was popular enough to win the presidential slot of the party just like any of the contenders.

“I think how popular one is often depends on where the question is posed. I have been meeting a lot of people and also seen patients for more than 20 years, and these are patients who come from all over the country so I believe my name could be referred to as a household name”.

He vehemently disagreed with people who think that he is only wasting his time and energy on politics since he believes his message is going down well with the members of his party.

“I am very hopeful that the delegates will vote massively for Prof. Frimpong-Boateng to win the flagbearership of the New Patriotic Party,” According to him, his decision for joining politics is because he feels the youth are increasingly becoming hopeless each passing day.

“I am coming to give the youth hope and also encourage them to believe in themselves rather than setting limits for their capabilities”, he intoned.