David Dontoh
Ace Ghanaian actor David Dontoh, has disclosed he has a soft spot for the Convention People’s Party (CPP), but votes based on issues and the quality of a party’s flagbearer.
He bemoaned the practice whereby celebrities are sidelined and seen as enemies when they publicly declare their support for one political party or the other. According to him, there was nothing wrong with a celebrity supporting a party since it is done in the developed world.
“In reality, there is nothing wrong with it except the Ghanaian political terrain has a different culture, if I may put it that way. In the US, Oprah Winfrey and many of those top actors actually declare their stance for the various political parties when they are doing their campaigns but [in] Ghana, … when they [celebrities] declare to be part of a political party, what happens to their own careers when that party goes out of power is sad,” he said on Saturday August 5 on ‘E on Class’ on Class 91.3FM.
“People think that if we declare, then once it goes to this side, then you are an enemy to the other side, which is even part of the culture in Ghanaian politics, which is wrong. The fact that the person is not on your side does not make the person an enemy, he only has a right of thought, right of association, a right of expression and so he has every right to belong to where he chooses and there is nothing wrong with it,” he told host Natalia Andoh.
The award-winning actor said he is not a card-bearing member of any political party and has over the years voted for more than one political party.
“…I have been able to sit in the middle and not to declare (my political affiliation). Not that I do not passionately follow some political ideologies, I do because my father was at one time one of the functionaries of Kwame Nkrumah’s CPP, so I have a soft spot for the CPP, but I am not a card-bearing member of any political party in Ghana.
In actual fact, a political party that does its work well is what I vote for, so I don’t dogmatically stick myself to a particular political party, but every person has every right to choose their party except that it’s unfortunate those who openly declare for political parties become enemies to others who belong to other political parties. …I vote skirt-and-blouse and have voted for about three or four political parties. If I listen to your manifesto and I look at the quality of your flagbearer and the parties own mechanism of operation and I believe that you can deliver, I vote for you,” he stated.
