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The main reason Amewu won the Hohoe seat was because he bribed voters more than his opponent. He did not take the seat by winning the hearts and souls of the people. He worked his way through their wallets and their stomachs.
It is a violation of the country’s electoral laws to bribe or attempt to bribe anyone to vote for you. But voter corruption is now a widespread and apparently acceptable practice in the country.
Amewu had so much money and gifts to distribute to voters that there was still plenty left even after the election. On the eve of the vote, his seconds were begging people to take his money and vote for him.
The people in the riding were overwhelmed. They had always voted for NDC without anyone bribing them to do so. Then suddenly here’s someone giving them so much if they could only give the thumbs up for the man at the nuclear power plant. He distributed so much money that the beneficiaries found it difficult to go against their conscience by not voting for him. After all, these are people who are not die-hard ideologues and are easily swayed by a little money. Talk to the ordinary citizens who receive Amewu’s gifts and they will admit to you that they are just ordinary people who really don’t care about NPP or NDC.
Amewu’s aid targeted the most vulnerable in society. In Wli, her mother’s hometown, everyone received at least 40 GHS. In other areas, 10 or 20 cedis was enough. Videos abound of seconds of Amewu handing out new cedi notes (they were always new) from black plastic bags like candy to children. The chiefs received larger sums.
The people of Amewu distributed cutlasses, light bulbs, rice, oil, Wellington boots, soap, gas stoves, cloth, gasoline and beer. Some families have even received flat screen TVs. These things were not given to alleviate the suffering of the people. They were donated in the hope of voting for the donor. It was not philanthropy.
A day before the vote, dozens of STC buses descended on Hohoe and voters (including children) in Accra were tricked into voting ostensibly for the candidate. STC has stopped its Hohoe route for several years now. People were surprised to see so many STC buses. Many did not even know that the company had so many in their fleet!
There are rules against corruption. The EC webpage presents the dos and don’ts of the voting process. The first don’ts section is “Refrain from Corruption” before “Avoid undue influence”.
But the EC does not go into detail on the consequences of being caught breaking the rules. It just says that anyone who notices a rule violation should report it to the commission officials. Often nothing happens when such complaints are made. Some rules are obscure. Is it okay to hand out t-shirts but no money?
We have a problem with our electoral process. Corruption has now become an acceptable way to campaign. This happens during the primaries for the selection of constituency candidates. This happens on a larger scale when selecting presidential candidates.
All the candidates bribe the voters. Amewu has only taken this to unprecedented levels. Since he contested in a constituency hostile to his party, he had to be extremely generous to allow him to turn the tide. His opponent, short of money, could not match him!
No one has ever been prosecuted for bribing voters. We do not take the whole issue of campaign finance seriously. In the United States, whose political system we have partially copied, people go to jail for illegal campaign contributions. This is unheard of in Ghana!
Amewu’s opponents are not contesting his election because he bribed voters. They cannot hold him guilty of an offense that they have all committed. Instead, they raise the issue of the deprivation of the right to vote from parts of the constituency which they believe allowed him to win. The NDC candidate is from one of the disenfranchised villages. People couldn’t vote for their own daughter. It remains to be seen whether his opponents have the financial means and the legal prowess to win a court case in a court system in the pockets of the ruling party.
For some, receiving bribes is a way for the poor to recover some of the money that politicians have stolen from them. But is this the kind of income redistribution we want?
We should be asking ourselves questions about the use of bribes in our elections. Where did Amewu get all the funds from? How could an individual hire so many state buses for a purpose that is to their personal political advantage? Has he already declared his assets?
What can we do? One suggestion is that the state should fund political parties. Any party that gets, say, 10 percent of the vote in an election should be backed with a corresponding sum of money in the next election. This will put new parties at a disadvantage, but they will only have to overcome the first hurdle.
The obvious objections are that the state does not have the resources and that the money will go into private pockets anyway. But if we are to promote inclusive democracy, the state must pay the price. The parties that produce our leaders cannot be beholden to the financial might of a few individuals. State-sponsored parties will also call for tighter government control of party accounts – a requirement set out in article 55 (14) of the 1992 constitution.
Anyone caught convincing a voter to vote for a particular person by offering money or a gift should be subject to prosecution. The EC seems powerless to enforce its own rules. He never gave an example to anyone.
There is an element of human interest in the Amewu saga. He started his political life as a young man in the NDC. When he lost the parliamentary primaries, he abandoned the NDC and went to their rivals. This is his first elected victory apart from those he won within the regional party hierarchy where competition is less fierce. Even so, the celebrations of his current victory, won at such a high price, have been hushed up. But he has now organized a series of victory celebrations in the constituency where he pays for people to eat, drink and rejoice because of him.
Critics of Amewu don’t say nice things about him and in particular denounce his arrogance and greed. Poor orator and little charisma, he paints an austere figure on the country road projecting an image of pretentious humility. He claimed that if he had only wanted to enter parliament he would have run in a constituency in Accra where he could easily have won. He insists that it is his desire to do something for his people that drives him to run in his home constituency.
He is a man eager for the love and recognition of people who have rejected him on all previous occasions. He could only now convince some by bribing them. He has a morbid desire to be greeted by the people and clearly enjoys the moments when the women of the village dance to his glory! Will this love stand the test of time? Now is the time to recover for him? He is known to be a very vindictive man who never leaves his enemies out of his sight.
Some of his supporters have argued that despite his obnoxious nature, people should hold their noses and vote for him since he brings home some of the pork. In addition, he is their son, and as the elders say, a child does not defecate on his parents’ thighs, and a knife is used to slice the skin. Many of his projects in the region, some poorly planned, are funded out of his pocket. He had threatened to cut a few if the vote did not go his way.
Political office offers enormous benefits to incumbents, which increases the gap between the haves and have-nots in our unequal society. But the political space is increasingly occupied by a few rich people. The result of the money controlling our electoral process is the increase in corruption as the spenders try to recoup their expenses. Honest citizens are being squeezed out in an area dominated by rogue actors. It has now become very difficult for true reformers to win the presidency.
We cannot curb corruption in our society if we continue to allow politicians to corrupt their entry into elected office. Our democracy is much poorer for that.
Coffee teeth ([email protected])
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