Party Leaders Should Stop Asking For Cars And Land From Parliamentary Aspirants Majority Leader

The Majority Leader in Parliament and the Member of Parliament for Suame, Hon. Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, has lambasted some political party leaders who make sickening demands, including the requests for cars and land, as prerequisites for allowing party members to contest in Parliamentary primaries.

The Suame legislator proscribed these instances of vote buying, emphasizing the need to address this issue in Ghana’s electoral process.

Speaking during a leadership engagement with the Parliamentary Press Corps on Wednesday, February 7, the Majority Leader stated, “You have people coming to you to tell you that buy a car for us before we vote for you. Especially the leadership of the parties, they ask for cars before they allow you to contest, even landhellip;we should be real.”

Hon. Kyei-Mensah Bonsu, who will not be seen in Ghana’s next parliament as an MP, proposed that political parties reconsider such practices, suggesting a deeper introspection to possibly get rid of these demands.

He further illumined the need for a shift towards a system resembling established democracies or expanding voting rights to all card-bearing party members.

He said, “My own proposition is that the parties should introspect and perhaps scrap this thing as it is in established democracieshellip;If we want to persist to live with this communist arrangement then, we will perhaps have to go further downstream to enable every card-bearing member of the party to vote.”

Additionally, the Majority Leader cautioned against apathy among MPs who did not secure victory in their Parliamentary primaries, emphasizing the importance of continued engagement in parliamentary business in order to have a smooth Parliamentary session.

Kobina Darlington/