Monetised-Democracy a Monster to Devour us Soon

The 2022 National Delegates’ Conference of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) has come and gone over the weekend. The conquerors are savouring their victory and the vanquished are licking their wound, but that is often an outcome of the game; it’s never for the faint-hearted.

The Anchor feels it worthy to congratulate the winners of executive positions, especially, Mr. Stephen AyensuNtim, for being a good relentless fighter, who continually fights to deservingly claim a position that by hair’s strike continually eluded him for two decades.

We also pat the back of Stephen Asamoah Boateng and also, the outgoing general secretary, John Boadu, as well as, the great number of the rest, for the courageous ‘fight’; Buddies, man could only do little but not all. Ayekoo!

This paper could rate the weekend’s gathering of the Elephant family as the most peaceful of them all – since the party’s inception. It was without rancor, except one person picked by the police, ostensibly, as deterrent to others who might have harboured chaos within.

We also congratulate every member of the 3000 battle-ready police force to the conference venue of Accra Sports Stadium, under the auspices of the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Dr. George Akuffo-Dampare and his able lieutenants: One tall feather in the hat of the Conference organizing committee, particularly, the committee chairman, comrade Peter MacManu. We aren’t leaving out His Excellency the President, Nana Addo-Dankwa Akufo-Addo, for his guidance. The Anchor says kudos! We wish the newly-elected national executive committee well in its endeavor to “break the eight”. Well said.

However, while the Anchor gives its praises in its overview, we must also borrow the same courage to alert the contemporary Ghanaian politicians of very sickening sin that continues to plague our national body polity; the issue of monetization of our democracy. We’ll also argue that monetization of a democracy is worse than a military dictatorship, because it comes with a perfidy of genuineness although farce.

The covert distribution of real cash, let alone freedom of doing so and in abundance at election times and venues is in every jurisdiction a punishable sin. In the Europe, Asia and Americas, perpetrators of this democratic sin, no matter the thickness of their skin and size of their shoes, were made to face the consequential music. It is not different in Ghana and Africa, we can argue.

The act is abhorred because it had power to crack the very foundation of the democratic process. It makes democracy vulnerable to be plundered by criminals and nation-wreckers with the filthy money-bag.

In some jurisdictions, drug cartels and money-launderers find safe-havens and become dominant power brokers; this breeds other auxiliary social crimes, like murders, assassination and or kidnapping of target obstacles.

In Ghana, however, the canker started like acne or small pimple; we failed to nip it and it’s now the size of a huge boil perching right on our forehead and beyond the coverage of ordinary cotton-wool.

The paper felt scandalized when after the weekend NPP elections, at least, one of the contestants threw tantrums to the effect that, huge sums of vote-buying money were shared among the voting-rights delegates prior to the elections and that, he only distributed T&T to the delegates.

That was after money-bundles with photo images of at least a contestant – in the GH¢50.00 – were seen ‘flowing’ on social media.

When the contestant was maybe, oblivious of committing a vexed political sin, the great number of those who should call them to order, in order to save the country’s democracy and protect it against future predatory by the “rich” underworld, were looking on unconcerned; and to the voting-delegates, it was their cocoa season like no tomorrow.

The Anchor shudder to believe that by ignoring this act, year-by-year, we maybe rearing a political monster very soon to devour us; and need and must find all means possible to stop the canker for our own good, as political office-time remains transient. One again; congratulations dear NPP, for successfully, killing the bad-elephant within. Ayekoo!

Source: Anchorghana