Political analyst Dr. Jonathan Asante Otchere has observed that the level of monetisation of the country’s electoral process is more rampant under the New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration than in any other regime.
Dr. Asante Otchere’s comments come on the back of the sitting Member of Parliament (MP) for the Kwadaso constituency, Dr. Kingsley Nyarko, who was caught on camera giving out a white envelope to two Electoral Commission officials during the Ejisu by-election on Tuesday, April 30.
The video of the NPP MP, which has since gone viral, has attracted widespread criticism and concerns about addressing the age-old problem of monetisation of the electoral process.
Meanwhile, the Electoral Commission, in its preliminary investigations into the incident, said the content of the envelope was meant for lunch and not to influence its officials.
“It is just quite unfortunate. This kind of opulence and daylight influence of elections has raised its ugly head more than ever in the regime of the NPP.
“I can say that there is not a single regime that is innocent of this practice but the level at which we are seeing now is just quite unbelieveable and mind-blowing,” Dr. Asante Otchere said on TV3 News 360.
He added, “If Dr. Nyarko had not been caught on video, he wouldn’t have accepted that I gave this envelope to the EC officials to buy water.”
He further noted that the government actively engages in vote-buying and electoral influence because its policies have failed to tackle the issues facing the general populace.
“The government interventions have not yielded the right results and that is the only thing that the government will resort to, to buy votes,” he emphasised, arguing that the government could have used the resources it spends to induce voters to be directed into projects that will benefit voters.
“It is embarrassing for a party that prides itself on being a beacon of democracy; as far as the Fourth Republic is concerned, they have really degenerated and they must be condemned in no uncertain terms,” Dr. Asante Otchere lashed out at the NPP.
Moreover, the National Democratic Congress (NDC)—which opted out of the by-election—has served notice that it will pursue the alleged bribery of the EC officials by Dr. Nyarko to “a reasonable conclusion.”
Source: 3news.com
