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Enact legislation to prevent monitisation in elections–Atsu Ayee

Professor Atsu Ayee, a Senior Lecturer of the Political Science Department of the University of Ghana, has urged the government to design a comprehensive legislation to promote party accountability, probity and transparency to prevent money laundering in political elections.

He explained that it should entail better oversight of integrity in the public sector, stronger political parties and attention to an illegal financial transaction in the country’s political election space.

Prof Ayee made the call at a national stakeholders’ consultation on ‘Monetisation of politics in Ghana’ organised by the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs in Accra when he spoke on the topic: ‘Money, influence, corruption and capture-Can Ghana’s democracy be safeguarded.’

He called for concerted and enduring efforts to effectively and efficiently control monetisation in politics even though laws and regulations were important, they required conducive social fabric that empowered the citizenry, encouraged accountability, probity, and ensured proper implementation and sustainability of integrity-enhanced system.

“Monetisation in politics or political finance serves as conduit for corruption, capture of political power which affects democratic governance even though money in politics is necessary for political parties to play their role, must be used judiciously to promote political governance, failure will lead to crimes or vices of influence, corruption and capture of power to advantage of few.

“Political finance laws, regulations are often undermined by lack of political will or capacity, poorly designed, enforced measures, civil society, media to monitor role of money in politics by connecting possible ways in which money can be disguised,  tract on appointment of public officials for coherent and objective criticism to put them on their toes.

“I recommend study into manifestoes of political parties, monitor outputs, results when elected into power for probity, accountability, transparency, serve as check on operations, not to be seen as office-seekers driven by material, self-interest and regarded by citizenry as highly susceptible to corruption.

“Negative perceptions are as result of weak financial position of political parties’ membership where financiers contribute between 35 per cent to 55 per cent of party funding while party funding contributes only two per cent, weak promotion of internal democracy taken with ‘pinch of salt’ given monetisation of politics and capture of parties by moneybags,” Prof Ayee posited. -gna.org

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