Vote on issues, not patronage – Lecturer

A political science lecturer at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Dr Edward Brenya, has urged the electorate to vote for politicians based on their campaign messages rather than on patronage.

According to him, the culture of patronage politics in Ghana was creating divisions among the populace, and its effects in the long term could be devastating on the country.

Dr Brenya was speaking on Ghana Yensom, Accra100.5FM’s morning show, on Tuesday May 3, 2016 in his contribution to the discussion on the matter on the show.

He said patronage politics – an I-scratch-your-back, you scratch-mine arrangement between politicians and the electorate in a particular area – was breeding a culture where politicians now concentrated projects in particular areas at the expense of others who deserve it, in anticipation of votes from the beneficiary communities.

“When that happens, it breeds ethnocentrism and tribalism and other things which are not politically appropriate. It leads to divisions, disturbances, and wars,” observed Dr Brenya.

He said although an individual may get sworn in as president on the back of a political party, once he assumes office he is to serve the entire population and ensure development of the country using the revenue which comes from all citizens.

“So, if a leader decides to focus more projects in an area because they voted for him, then he is creating divisions which can escalate into violence and other undesirable situations,” he warned on the programme.

“I feel it is issues-based politics we should strive for, so that when elections approach, you listen to what a candidate can do and make a decision, or on whether you share his ideologies. But once the elections are over, we have one party, we have one Ghana.”