Democracy Is Not For Sale: NPP Central Regional Secretary calls for sanctions against vote-buying

The Central Regional Secretary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Richard Takyi-Mensah, has urged political parties to impose strict penalties on candidates who engage in vote-buying. He believes that party leaders' failure to take strong action against offenders is one of the reasons why vote-buying continues to be a problem in Ghana's political system.

During the Central Regional edition of the "Democracy Is Not For Sale" programme, Mr. Takyi-Mensah emphasized that political campaigns should focus on candidates' visions and their capacity to deliver development, rather than on the distribution of gifts. He expressed his concern over the increasing practice of distributing items like television sets and air conditioners, which detracts from the real purpose of political contests.

Mr. Takyi-Mensah attributed the issue partly to the lack of trust between voters and elected officials, stating that some politicians become unreachable after winning elections and fail to fulfill their campaign promises. Consequently, voters sometimes accept money and gifts from candidates, believing that collecting these items before elections is their only chance to benefit from politicians.

He also highlighted the controversy surrounding the NPP's primaries in the Ayawaso East constituency, where a National Democratic Congress (NDC) parliamentary aspirant was accused of distributing television sets to delegates. Although the NDC considered disciplinary action against the accused aspirant, the party did not show the resolve required to enforce its rules, Mr. Takyi-Mensah said.

He argued that political parties must be ready to punish candidates found guilty of vote-buying, regardless of their standing or influence within the party, as firm disciplinary action would discourage others from engaging in such practices and restore public confidence in the electoral process. Mr. Takyi-Mensah stressed that the responsibility to combat vote-buying lies mainly with party leadership, which must ensure that internal elections are determined by candidates' ideas, records, and development plans rather than by their financial resources.