Mr. Issahaku Lonsina, District Director of the National Commission for Civic Education(NCCE), in the Sawla-Tuna- Kalba, has expressed concern at the increasing monetization of politics and political parties in the country, saying it is taking a toll on the quality of leaders required for development.
He said politics today has been denigrated to who has the purchasing prowess to buy him or herself into power without necessarily having the leadership intellect to direct the affairs of the nation to foster development.
Mr. Lonsina said this in an interview with Yagbon Radio Abdul Fatawu Diwura, during Thursday, June 25, 2020, edition of Yagbon Radio morning show ” Tea Cup” in a reaction to the just ended NPP primaries where monies and goodies were allegedly doled to delegates to influence them vote in favour of certain candidates.
He said “today politics is all about money. It is about who has money to pay delegates and that is the problem.” If you don’t have money to pay delegates you are not on their winning side”.
When asked whether the absence of some of the incumbent MP’s who lost the primaries will affect the works of Parliament, he said, the fact that some of them chairs various committee’s in Parliament will definitely have a negative impact on the execution of parliamentary duties.
Mr. Lonsina called for a paradigm shift on how political parties and politics is perceived in the country and called on government to design comprehensive legislation to promote party accountability and prevent money laundering in political elections.
This according to him, entailed a better oversight of integrity in the public sector, stronger political parties and attention to an illegal financial transaction in the country’s political election space.
He said monetization in politics or political finance serves as a conduit for corruption and capture of political power which affects democratic governance of every country.
Source: yagbonradioonline.com
