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Avoid putting “puppet” politicians
in power
Accra, July 29,
Ghanadot/GNA - Professor Emmanuel Gyimah-Boadi, Executive
Director of the Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana),
has said that much as flagrant use of money in politics was
unacceptable, the electorate also deserved better than
“puppets” putting themselves up to be elected as leaders of
the country.
"Those who put themselves up to solicit our votes should
themselves have evidence of some level of financial
independence and proven ability to make and manage financial
and other resources on their own," he said.
Prof. Gyimah-Boadi told journalists attending a day's
seminar on policy literacy and issue-based reporting in an
election year that it was important for the media to throw
the spotlight and frown on both abusive political spending
and also on “puppets” who solicited for high public office.
"Vying for leadership position takes more that just
brilliant ideas. It also takes money and one's own ability
to mobilize resources to convince the electorate that that
person can lead them out of their own poverty.
"Politics is all about mandating people to make your life
better. If you come for my vote and you have not shown me
how you yourself can make your own life better, how do you
expect me to trust that if I follow you my life will change
for the better," he asked.
He noted that vote buying and the attempt to influence the
judgement of the electorate with money was much of a sin as
putting oneself up for election into the highest office in
the land without any evidence of one's own capacity to
provide sufficiently for oneself.
"A politician with a proven record and existing evidence of
financial freedom is more likely to engender confidence of
the electorate than the puppet politician," he said.
Prof. Gyimah-Boadi said the concern for journalists and the
electorate should not be how much money a political party
spent during an election, but rather the sources of those
funds.
"The fact is if a politician has enough money to put up an
expensive campaign without directly influencing people with
money there is nothing wrong with it, except there is proof
that the source of that money is not right," he said.
Dr. Peter Quartey, Deputy Director of the University of
Ghana Centre for Migration Studies, said extreme political
spending made it difficult for persons who were financially
independent but not necessarily affluent to compete fairly.
"Both extremes of flagrant political spending and puppets
putting themselves up to be elected are not good, but for
people like myself who are in the middle, with the ideas and
some level of financial independence, we still do not have
the wherewithal to compete with extreme spending," he said.
He therefore called for caution in extreme political
spending to enable financially independent but not
necessarily affluent people with ideas to participate in the
electoral process.
Dr. Audrey Gadzekpo, Director of University of Ghana School
of Communications, said democracy required that every
political party was given a fair chance, but the media
needed to paint a picture for the electorate to be able to
discern between politicians who were worth listening to and
those who were not.
"The fact that someone forms a political party does not mean
we should give him the same platform as other politicians
with proven record in their own lives, their communities and
public lives," she said.
GNA
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