Gift-giving and vote buying will not sway voters - NPP

The Truth Forum (TTF), one of the appendages of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) has asserted that the vote buying and election related gift-giving will not sway voters in the December 7, polls.

The group alleged that, gift-giving under the President John Dramani Mahama and his governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) administration, particularly in the runner-up to the election 2016 is getting larger but cannot crowd out the incompetent economic management of the country.

The Truth Forum explained that even though the President Mahama led NDC government appears to have perfected the art of electoral gift -giving, the people have also wisely learnt their lessons from 2012 to date.

A leading member of TTF, Yaw Buabeng Asamoah, who is also the NPP’s parliamentary aspirant for Adentan Constituency in the Greater Accra region joined by his colleague, the Spokesperson for Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, the party’s presidential candidate for this year’s election, Mustapha Hamid, gave this indication at a hurriedly arranged press conference in reaction to the President’s campaign tours.

He said the incumbency advantage on the part of the President ought to stop because it is an abuse of public office.

He maintained that given the lack of political traction for vote-buying, the ‘Truth Forum’ would not have bothered to engage on it but for the alarming waste of questionable resources involved in reportedly and allegedly giving away vehicles, houses, motorbikes, outboard motors, head pans, gas cylinders, tablets, mobile telephones and raw cash.

“Indeed, the infamous picture of the President stuffing cash in the pocket of a Chief on a street in the full glare of the public shows the depths to which the Presidency has in desperation, sunk, in pursuit of a phantom political desire,” he said.

The real question Mr. President, is whether you are going to pay all of us to vote for you? Mr Buabeng tease.

“Millions of Ghanaians are out of jobs, are dropping out of school, are not being treated in hospital, cannot afford electricity and rent and would rather walk than pay for transportation. This sorry plight is due primarily to the misalignment of resources away from essential services and priorities to high rent seeking projects,” he stated.

Mahama and his NDC, the Truth Forum said, tested the mix in the three month run up to the 2012 elections with devastating results for public finances.

“Overspending in excess of 8.7 billion Ghana cedis by the end of the year included but was not limited to unexplained expenditures of about GHS350 million from the Ministry of Youth and Sports, GHS650 million by the Office of the President or Office of Government Machinery and GHS60 million for the Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology, about GHS 300 million at NADMO as well as GHS 112 million on capacity building not to talk about some $100 million dollars improperly squandered at GYEEDA,” the Forum alleged.

The Forum also called on civil society to stand up and condemn what is going on, and bring some decency into politics.