ANGER: Presidents not Father Christmas to use their own money for campaign- Majority Leader
ANGER: Presidents not Father Christmas to use their own money for campaign- Majority Leader
Majority Leader in Parliament and a staunch member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Hon. Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu has said presidents are not Father Christmas to be using their own money for political campaigns without recouping.
According to him, most of the political campaigns of the president are funded by other people who after winning power, would have to be appreciated through the award of contracts in order for them to make a profit from the cost incurred during electioneering campaigns.
He however admitted to claims that such actions by Presidents and presidential candidates are a recipe for corruption in the country.
“The president of course is not a Father Christmas. People helped him win power and the president will not take money directly from the country but will award contracts to these people. In those instances, it can be observed that the initial amount for the contract might be increased by a small margin in order for the contractors to make profit. These things happen in our political system”. Hon Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu said this in an interview with Kumasi base radio Fox FM monitored by Mynewsgh.com.
He indicated that corruption will continue to be in the country if politicians including himself do not stop parading themselves in lavish electioneering campaigns across the country.
“When people say there is too much corruption in the country, they should know that corruption will be in our country if we don’t stop some of these things, corruption will continue to be with us. It will be difficult to fight corruption”, Hon. Kyei Mensah Bonsu stated.
How much does Ghana lose to corruption?
From 2017 to 2019 alone report by the Center for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana) from their studies revealed that Ghana lost a hooping amount of about GHc9.6 billion to public sector corruption under the watch of the Akufo-Addo-led government since 2017.
Another report suggests that Ghana lost more than $3 billion annually.
Source: Mynewsgh.com