I'll be okay with only one vote - Amoafo-Yeboah

Mr Kwesi Amoafo Yeboah, the only independent candidate running for president, on Thursday said, even if he won only one vote (his vote) he would still be satisfied with his contribution to the country's democratic process.

He told the Ghana News Agency that between the time he filed his nomination and now, he had managed to break the myth around running as an independent presidential candidate and that had opened the flood gates for subsequent independent candidates in the future.


Mr Amoafo-Yeboah noted that because most Ghanaians were not familiar with the whole concept of independent candidature, he had a difficulty getting support even from individuals, who had lost faith in the political party system.


"From the response I got during my campaign trips, I get the impression that if I am to do this again, I will get huge support from the public," he said. "Given the chance I will run as independent candidate again."


Mr Amoafo-Yeboah said his greatest challenge in the run up to the election, was the lack of finance, adding that, it cost him between GH¢25,000 to GH¢30,000 to move round the country once, with a team of eight.


He said he managed to raise some money outside of his private business, and that if he had been able to raise at least two million Ghana cedis for his campaign, he would have made more trips, been more visible and would have made a better impression on the populace.

"People always tell me they saw and heard from me once and that was it - that was because I did not have the funds to do several trips around the country," he said.


Touching on the several opinion polls flying around town, he said they were skewed towards only four political parties and that was not fair to the others, who had their names and photos on the ballot papers.


Mr Amoafo-Yeboah also noted that, initially the media did not pay attention to him and his candidature, and he found that strange because "being the first independent candidate in the Fourth Republic, I thought they would be interested in exploring the change I have brought into the democratic process".


He, however, praised the TV stations, particularly Ghana Television (GTV) and Metro TV for coming on board at "the last minute" to do his profile.


"GTV has asked me to tell them what else they can do for me and I think that is refreshing, not just for me but for future independent candidates," he said.

Asked what he would do in the event of a second round, he said he would lend his support to the party that had job creation at heart - the party that focused on generating revenue locally to move the country forward, not the one that put their hope in oil money, loans, grants and foreign direct investment (FDI).


"I believe that the one who would go to the Jubilee House must do something radical about the economy and that move must as of necessity move away from FDIs, loans, grants and the oil revenue. He must pay attention to generating revenue locally and also tell us exactly how he will create jobs for our people," he said.


Mr Amoafo-Yeboah said on December 7, he would be voting at the Labone Secondary School in the Dadekotopon Constituency of the Greater Accra Region, adding that, after voting he would go home and relax like a child and not be bothered by the outcome of the polls.