By Emmanuel Oti Acheampong
Ghana’s democratic selection of both party leaders and government leaders seems to be taking a different direction with the influence of money leading the influence.
Over the years both selection of national executives and flag bearers of various political parties have become money induced where the thumbs of delegates become expensive minerals being mined by political leaders.
The issue of vote buying has been condemned by both political analysts and enthusiasts as it leads to the selection of people who wield money and not leadership skills.
On the back of alleged votes buying from delegates of the NPP’s Presidential Primaries, Political Scientist and Lecturer Dr. Richard Amoako Baah has threatened to sue the NPP and its Flagbearer, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia for allegedly involving and endorsing vote buying, which described as an irregularity in elections.
Dr. Amoako Baah said, the NPP soft-soaped the majority of the Members of Parliament and other government appointees to back the candidacy of the Vice President and also induced the party delegates with money.
He maintained that such acts by the party should be discouraged if the country seeks to enhance its democratic credentials. He stressed that all the support garnered from the delegates toward Dr. Bawumia was because of money promised to them.
“The delegates were behind Bawumia because they were promised money. In fact, after such an event as this the conversation should be that, his candidate we have picked is very able and we are going to rally behind him,” he said.
According to him, Dr. Bawumia’s victory can be categorized as victory through fraud and he would be seeking a redress at the court to which he is optimistic of having the results of the NPP Presidential Primaries declared null and void.
“We have a law against vote buying and then you go to the polls to buy votes. In broad daylight they were sharing money and then they announced the results. If this was a proper country, I have said it, I will test the judiciary…I am going to file suit that since this election was conducted under illegality vote buying, the results should be nullified,” he added.