An estimated amount of GH¢549 million has been
spent by the country’s political parties on all forms of advertisements and
inducements aimed at wooing the electorate to vote for them in the forthcoming
presidential and parliamentary elections.
The money is being spent on advertisements,
promotions, billboards, vehicles, motorbikes and bicycles, and as direct
monetary gifts to voters.
According to investigations conducted by The Finder
newspaper, about GH¢350 million has been spent so far on advertisement on
television, radio and newspapers while billboards have consumed some GH¢21
million mainly in the Greater Accra Region.
About GH¢120 million is said to be spent on
vehicles, including four-wheel drives, for party supporters and so-called
opinion leaders.
Our investigations also revealed that the various
political parties have spent an estimated GH¢50 million on various types of
inducements on voter canvassers and voters. Some of the inducements have been
in the forms of motorbikes, bicycles, T-shirts and souvenirs, among others.
The main beneficiaries of the motorbikes and
bicycles are believed to be party foot soldiers.
According to the investigations, most of the
billboards are sited within the Greater Accra Region, especially along the
Mallam-Kasoa Highway, the Osu Oxford Street, the Independence Avenue, the Kojo
Thompson Road, the 37-Madina road and Airport, among others.
The two main political parties – the National
Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) - are obviously the
biggest spenders on the campaign trail, with the NDC on top, reversing the
situation during the last elections when the NPP dominated in adverts and
billboards.
Speaking to The Finder, a member of the
communication team for the Convention People’s Party (CPP), Mr. Thomas Abroni
alleged that he had personally seen money being given out to potential voters
in his constituency.
“I can confirm that in Amasaman, my constituency,
the ruling party is giving GH¢50 per person and in some of the tertiary
institutions like University of Ghana,” he alleged. He lamented, “These monies
and gifts are being given to the people now for the sake of attaining power and
they are using our taxes to buy their votes.”
He described the situation as worrying, adding that
it amounted to the monetization of democracy in Ghana.
National youth organizer of the Progressive
People’s Party (PPP), Mr. Divine Nkrumah described the situation as “blatant
abuse of incumbency.”
He wondered how the two major political parties
were funding their campaigns, adding that “dubious” sources of funds for
political campaigning had the tendency to breed corruption.
Mr. Nkrumah reiterated his party’s call for
political parties to come out with their sources of funding. “We are saying
that other parties should tell Ghanaians how they are funding their campaign
activities as the PPP has already done.”
The 'Finder' in April this year put political party
expenditure on advertisements and other promotional materials for the 2008
presidential and parliamentary elections at GH¢128 million, based on figures
supplied by media houses and agencies.
This year’s figure, therefore, represents a huge
climb over the 2008 figure and is likely to be the highest election spending in
the country’s history.
Source: The Finder
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