When general elections in Ghana draw closer, political parties device ways and means to attract voters across the country to cast their ballot for them and to enable them win at the polls. The situation with the December 7 presidential and parliamentary elections is no different.
The Chronicle has no knowledge of any vote buying currently going on in this country, but a news report published by myjoyonline.com has quoted Mrs. Linda Ofori Kwafo, Executive Director of the Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII) of accusing President John Dramani Mahama of such an act.
The story under the caption; “Mahama is buying votes, abusing incumbency –GII,” captured the head of the anti-corruption group as saying that the distribution of outboard motors to fishermen by President John Mahama in the Western Region is worse than vote buying. Mrs. Ofori Kwafo said the act is akin to abuse of office.
After launching the National Democratic Congress (NDC) December 2016 election campaign in Cape Coast, President Mahama embarked on a tour of the Western region where he started distributing outboard motors to some fisher folks.
At a durbar in Sekondi, President Mahama distributed outboard motors to some fishermen in the community to help improve upon their working conditions.
Speaking in an interview with Joy FM’s Super Morning Show host, Kojo Yankson, Joyce Bawa Mogtari, spokesperson of the NDC Campaign said the outboard motors are part of a government intervention and not intended to buy votes.
She said the outboard motors were purchased with state funds and distributed by the president, who was performing his duties as a president and not as a candidate. “It is something we have been engaged in for quite some time. The president has made these donations across the country, specifically targeting fishing communities across Ghana.”
It was while reacting to this statement that the GII Executive Director concluded that the move is “actually more than vote buying.” She said if the items were bought with state resources and they are being distributed on a campaign trail, then it amounts to abuse of incumbency.
“We have two aspects of abuse of incumbency; coercive abuse and corrupt abuse, and corrupt abuse, is using state resources to fuel or fund such activities.
“If the president told the whole nation that he is embarking on a campaign, then how on earth is the party using state resources to buy such gifts, which the woman referred to as donations,” she queried.
Mrs. Kwafo said regardless of the clarification by Mrs. Mogtari, the president presented the items in his capacity as president, and that has the potential to confuse the electorates, due to the time in which the donations were made.
“If they are receiving them at this time then it means you are using state resources to buy votes and we don’t do that. If you do that you don’t create a level playing field in an election and it is not going to amount to free and fair elections,” she added.
The multi-million question is? Is President John Dramani Mahama and his NDC really buying votes? From the ongoing, it is obvious that the issue is going to attract media headlines and communicators from the NDC and the other opposition political parties, especially the New Patriotic Party (NPP) would spend time to debate it.
The Chronicle is, therefore, advising the sitting president to know when to draw the line between his official duties and his duty as presidential candidate.
It is the view of The Chronicle that the action of President Mahama leaves much to be desired as it goes a long way to influence all those who may benefit from the distribution of the outboard motors to vote for the President and his NDC.
It is also important that as a nation, we should be able to come out with legislations that would debar the president, and for that matter, the party in power from using state resources to fund their campaign to ensure a smooth playing field for all parties.