Democracy, with all its glory, depends on one man one vote. It should never be about how many votes you can buy. If it is, the rich, rather than those with the mind to run effect government will always run government unless the ones with the mind to run government are rich. Our young democracy, if we have one, should establish clearly that we cannot allow vote buying and be a democracy.

Ghanaians have always complained of corruption in government. President Mahama’s government especially has been an object of increased complaints. An official in his government has been caught on tape discussing her desire to obtain while in government, money that seems to be much more than she can earn working for government. The President has stated his vow to fight corruption. Let’s see what he does about this seeming bribery that can weaken our young democracy.

There is supposedly a recorded tape going around of an NPP official (who recently switched his support from Mr. Kyerematen to Mr. Akufo Addo) saying that he was given an envelope containing $5,000. News reports are saying that the official involved has admitted that it is his voice on the tape. Law enforcement officials do not need any more than this to start an investigation. This is the time to issue subpoena to people to hand over tapes and the tapes authenticated, identify the people on the tape and bringing them in to get them on record as to what they know and who they know to be involved in it under the threat of perjury.

If President Mahama,really wants to fight corruption, he should let his law enforcement officers know that government should investigate this and then stay out and let the chips fall where they may. Of course he will be accused of playing politics anyway, but he did not record the tape. If he did, he did not make the official involved make the statement that he is supposed to have made. If he put a gun to this official’s head to force him to make that statement, he surely didn’t hand him $5,000 to persuade him to change his support to Akufo Addo instead of himself which I believe would be more beneficial.

If the investigation gets underway, I hope it does not lead to Mr. Akufo Addo. If Mr. Akufo Addo knows that he is involved in this supposed bribery, he should worry about staying out of prison rather than becoming President. This is far cry from handing Bronyi Wawu out in the streets in hopes of getting people to vote for you. This is a blatant quid pro quo. Our young democracy cannot tolerate it whether it is intra party or inter-party, and yes, the government has the obligation to investigate and prosecute if laws were broken. Let’s see if Ghana has laws against bribery.

Tony Pobee-Mensah

tpmensahr@yahoo.com