Monetisation of politics undermines public office values — Former Pru East MP
A former National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament for Pru East, Dr Kwabena Donkor, has stated that the influence of money in the election of political leaders undermines public office values.
He said the demand for money by voters from aspiring politicians on a campaign trail did not inspire good values, especially for those seeking to occupy public life.
“We do not bring good values into public life by such acts and that must stop,” Dr Donkor, who is also a former Power Minister, stated at a forum in Accra last Wednesday.
Forum
Dubbed, "Time with the Politician” series, the interactive session was jointly organised by the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS) Ghana and the Political Science Department of the University of Ghana (UG).
The forum, which centred on diverse issues ranging from public leadership to the law-making process, among other things, formed part of efforts to create a platform for students to interact with experienced political leaders.
Answering questions on the friction between national development and political ideology, Dr Donkor stressed the need for a National Development Plan that mandated that political parties structure their manifestos to align with the development plan.
Education
On education, he said many programmes in public universities were increasingly driven by revenue considerations instead of national development priorities, a situation he said risked undermining the quality and relevance of higher education.
“If we take all our public universities, the structure of academic courses today are largely driven by internally generated funding.
They are not driven by national manpower planning,” he said.
“Universities run courses to make money and I am not worried about stating that.
Especially your business schools and law faculties, a number of programmes you run in our public universities are IGF-driven,” he said.
He, therefore, urged universities to align academic programmes with national manpower needs rather than the pursuit of Internally Generated Funds (IGF).
He also charged that the National Education Commission was tasked with ensuring that educational programmes aligned with manpower needs, so that all universities complied with that provision.
Dialogue
The Country Representative of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung Ghana, Anna Wasserfall, said cooperation and dialogue were essential in strengthening democratic governance.
She stated that the foundation had worked in Ghana for six decades and remained committed to supporting platforms that encouraged political dialogue, civic education and engagement between leaders and the younger generation.
For his part, the Head, Political Science Department of the University of Ghana, Professor Isaac Owusu-Mensah, said the “Time with the Politician” series was designed to bridge the gap between academic theory and the practical realities of politics.
He said the initiative would provide students with the opportunity to engage with experienced political actors and deepen their understanding of governance, policy-making and democratic practice.
