Elections In Ghana: MPs, Money And Votes

Giving incentives to voters to cast their votes was not uncommon in the Western Political history.The Political Parties in USA used to give voters $5 or $10 to cast the proper ballot in the OLD DAYS,Levitt&Dubner(2005).Payment sometimes came in the form of a keg of whiskey ,a barrel of flour or in the case of an 1890 New Hampshire congressional race ,a live pig, Levitt &Dubner(2005). With time,the situation in the West has changed.

Majority of Electorates are aware of the political scene and above all ,majority of the population are above the poverty line now.Politicians do not need to bribe voters with fiscal cash or incentive to cast their votes any more.Even the turnout to vote at Polls is very low in Uk/USA.Voters in UK want Parties/MPs with clear,simple and straight forward IDEAS which could make difference in their day-to-day living.

The situation in Ghana is different.One has to be `rich `to enter political arena.At times , it has prevented some honest people with good ideas to join the political `race`.Rather,it gives way to some uncaring people with money who lack ideas but money to `buy` votes. Does money win votes? True,money could win votes especially in the rural/deprived areas of society.Politicans use money to influence the rural folks before election .Once election is over,the typical MP does not care to visit them ,interact and listen to some of the problems the people who voted for him/her face. In economic terms ,most of what people want in life ,such as friendship,family,standing,fun respect,love is NOT priced and does not pass through the market.If someting is not priced,according to Easterbrook(2003),one cannot buy it,so possessing money may not help much. Easterbrook posits that it is true many have used money in attempt to buy love,friendship or respect.However,the kind of respect one will get for your money is not likely to be as good as the UNPRICED kind. In POLITICS,conventional wisdom ,according to Levitt&Dubner(2005) is often wrong.Money ALONE does not WIN ELECTIONS.Yes, Politicians need money to buy resources like vehicles,bicycles and to pay the campaign team.But to give money to electorates to vote for typical MP is not guaranteed. If the MP has not DELIVERED during his/her term in office in the form of DEVELOPMENT,how can such MP `bribe` the Electorates again to get their votes for extra 4 years in office? In the USA,it is a common knowledge that `EVERY TWO-TERM PRESIDENT HAS `LAME-DUCK` POLICIES`,that is why the USA Constitution allows Presidents to SERVE a maximum of TWO TERMS in office. What really matters for political candidate/MP is not how much money he/she spends on the campaign trail.What matters most is whether the MP CARES.The MP should reflect and ask him/her self what he/she has achieved in terms of DEVELOPMENT during his/her period in office. The Voters in the rural areas will have to judge whether the MP provided the BASIC NEEDS for the ELECTORATES.These are good drinking Water,better Sanitation,better feeder roads , health centres and better opportunities for the Youth in the area he/she represents.

FAILURE to achieve some of these fundamental needs for the People means,the typical MP has failed his/her people.Therefore,there is the NEED to TRY another person because NO ONE HAS MONOPOLY OF WISDOM.

(YAW) OWUSU-ANSAH BOAFO
Freelance Sociologist
12th October 2007

Views expressed by the author(s) do not necessarily reflect those of GhanaHomePage.