We must reform political campaign financing – Nsarkoh  

Mr Yaw Nsarkoh, former Executive Vice President, Global Markets Unilever, has called for a comprehensive reform of Ghana’s political campaign funding to advance democratic governance.  

“Today, no one really knows how much a presidential candidate of a political party spends on their campaigns,” he said.  

“No one knows where the money is sourced from; no one seems bound by any enforced laws to make all of these transparent and accountable.”   

Mr Nsarkoh made the call at an occasional lecture, organised by the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences (GAAS), in Accra on Thursday.  

It was on the topic: “Iniquities of Iniquity in our Santa Claus Democracy”.  

He said the gaps in political campaign financing had led to the surest corridor to money laundering and political favouritism.  

Thirty years into the fourth republic, many questions were being asked about whether the country had delivered the expected improvements and dividends in the livelihoods of the masses, Mr Nsarkoh said.  

The questions, he noted, were relevant not only to the country but also to Africa in achieving democratic governance.  

Participation in the process of political activities, he said, was too expensive for the majority of the population and called for urgent action to address the issue.  

“We remain a pre-capitalist reality in the main, yet a minority urban petty bourgeoisies have captured the state and its pretensions at democratic conduct, excluding the majority,” he added.  

“These majority are marginalised, poor and not educated and do not speak the language of power due to suppression.”  

Mr Nsarkoh noted that with the collapse of local government in most meaningful ways, access to power and decision-making was denied the majority of the poor.  

He said the central task of democracy could truly be the delivery of shared prosperity and shared dignity, without which the country could not claim to be “a free people.”  

Since 1992, Ghana had witnessed nine successful elections, and it was not surprising that she was described as a beacon of hope in democratic governance, Mr Nsarkoh said.  

“Ghana was ushered into the Fourth Republic after more than a decade of military rule with heightened hopes,” he added.   

“Democracy is to restore basic freedom and expected to deliver significantly improved livelihoods for its citizens.”  

The Ghana Statistical Service, in its import governance report, said more than 70 per cent of Ghanaians felt that the current political system provided little or no space for them to influence decision-making.   

Mr Nsarkoh described the situation as a worrying indictment of the country’s pledge to democracy.  

He called on the authorities to ensure that government institutions performed their mandate effectively and addressed the socio-economic needs of the citizenry, especially the poor, to achieve a democratic dividend.  

Source: GNA  

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