With the December polls fast approaching, Founder of the International Central Gospel Church Pastor Mensah Otabil has admonished Ghanaians to come out in their numbers and exercise their franchise without fear or hesitance to elect a leader for the country.

Addressing the congregation at a service on Sunday, Pastor Otabil charged his members to see beyond party names, slogans and colors and vote based on substantial issues.

“Supporting a political party is not like supporting a football team. When you support a football team you allow yourself to compete through your team so when they win you feel good but when they lose you feel bad… but the outcome doesn’t affect anything about your life….. It’s not about party colours. A nation becomes what its citizens vote for” Pastor Otabil noted

The influential preacher advised the congregation to vote prudently on December 7 as their quality of life will depend on their voting choices.

“You can actually vote for a party which can punish you, yes… and they can punish you and create hardship for you but because you see it like supporting Olympics or Accra Hearts of Oak you still support, although the policies are not favoring you.

The leader of the International Central Gospel Church had in the same meeting expressed disappointment at what he said was the propensity of Ghanaians to put their votes on “auto-pilot”.

According to Pastor Otabil it is an insult to your intelligence to put your vote on autopilot without looking at the proposal by the various political parties.

“You cannot exchange your vote for t-shirt, money, piece of cloth, goat and a chicken! You sovereignty is far more expensive than chicken. Do you know why people will buy chicken for your vote? Because they know you don’t value it and they want to buy it cheap from you,”