Vote-buying: Hardnut to crack

Dear Editor,

Ahead of any major election, we hear political parties accusing one anoth­er of vote-buying. The just ended Assin North by-election was no exception. The National Democratic Congress and the New Patriotic Party “played their games”, as usual, in a bid to win the contest.

Observers claim items such as match­es, fertilisers, cash, among others were distributed in the run-up to the election but both parties have denied the alle­gations. A winner has been declared and things appear to have returned to “factory settings” until the next election crops up.

In my view, complaints over vote buying by political parties, smacks of hy­pocrisy and double standards considering reports about financial inducements which sometimes occur during the internal elec­tions of the two leading political parties.

The indictment and name calling that usually happen after parties organise local or regional elections all point to how some candidates try to woo voters with money and other goodies. It is for this and other reasons, I believe the nation would have a hard time dealing with the issue of vote buying if political parties do not clear or the tidy up their own backyards.

Melvin Kwame Donkor,

Weija-Accra.