Monetization of electoral politics has become an emerging threat to Ghana’s democracy, a former New Patriotic Party parliamentary aspirant in the Subin Constituency has cautioned.
According to Joseph Boakye Danquah, the emergence and growth of the use of money to negatively influence the nation’s electoral politics and governance is undermining multiparty representative democracy in the country.
JB Danquah further admonished that the habit of parties and candidates engaging in excessive vote buying in order to get elected into office both during intra and inter-party level elections could have far reaching consequences on Ghana’s nascant democracy.
He added that the phenomenon has unnecessarily raised the cost of contesting in elections to exorbitant levels.
He made the observation at a press conference in Kumasi on Thursday to announce his intention to contest the Subin Constituency as an independent candidate in December 2024.
“The NPP party in Subin is broken, and not acting in tandem with the founding principles for which I signed up. The delegate system of selecting candidates is corrupt and unsustainably monetized. The nation is suffering from the corrupt NDC/NPP duopoly.
“… I am therefore declaring to the good people of Subin and Ghana that I will be running to become a member of Parliament for Subin constituency in December 2024 as an independent candidate. I am giving you, the good people of Subin, a better alternative, an opportunity to vote for someone who shares your values and principles but is not a product of a corrupt system…”, Mr Danquah assured.
JB Danquah insists both the NDC and the NPP have failed to address key issues which has resulted in the stagnation of the development of the country.
He further bemoaned that irrespective of how abysmal either the NDC or the NPP perform, they still have delegates who are willing to vote for them, adding that it high time Ghanaians ditched both parties.
JB Danquah added that his decision to go independent is to put an end to the seemingly unending cycle of Ghanaians always voting either the NDC or NPP into power irrespective of their performance in governance.
He further stressed the importance of having an independent minded politician to enable the populace to challenge the country’s pervading duopoly system.