People who come into politics to amass wealth end up corrupt - Oppong Nkrumah

Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, the Member of Parliament for the Ofoase-Ayirebi Constituency has disclosed that individuals who venture into politics with the intent to amass wealth end up becoming corrupt politicians.

According to the Information-Minister designate, winning elections has nothing to do with money but rather being able to convince people to support and push your agenda.

The Ofoase-Ayirebi MP noted emphatically that although the Ghanaian political terrain is infiltrated with vote-buying, one can never rely on it to win an election.

“The key thing is that you need to put yourself in a position where your agenda is such that you can have people support you,” the Oppong Nkrumah said in an interview sighted by GhanaWeb. He added, “You can’t run for office on your own money and if you think you are going to amass wealth to run for an election that is where you get into issues of corruption etc..”

The lawmaker also disclosed that he was honoured to have people who believed in his dreams of becoming a politician and hence helped him raise funds to contest for his first election as MP.

“I was privileged that because of the people I knew, whom I had worked with in different capacities, it was not so difficult to mobilize, so at my fundraising at Alisa, I was thrilled. Very young people working in different organizations chipped in 3,000, 4,000 and by the time you realize you have what you need to pursue the agenda,” Oppong Nkrumah told Citi TV.

He, however, noted that some politicians end up becoming corrupt because they have to offer lip service to people to contribute large amounts into their campaigns.

“If you put yourself in a position where the person gives you [a] 100,000 cedis or someone contributes 20% of your campaign watches then you are getting into a position where you owe them favours that is why in the West there are campaign finance laws and that prevents one person from contributing so much.”