Stephen Atubiga, the founder and leader of the National Liberation Congress (NLC), claims that politicians have gotten so obsessed with corruption that it has rendered them foolish.
The former communications team member of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) said our political leaders have become stupid because they have refused to think outside the box.
The 49-year-old lawmaker stated that corruption has become a state problem, to the point where our political leaders come into power with the intention of taking from the meagre resources we have rather than implementing programmes to improve people’s lives.
Speaking in an interview with Dr. Ren on Rainbow Radio 92.4 FM in the United Kingdom, he stated that “corruption has affected every system of our lives to the point that our politicians have become stupid, refusing to think outside the box, and only interested in what they will steal from the state or take home when elected to public office”.
In mincing no words, he declared that “politicians we have in Africa, particularly Ghana, think of their pockets before the country. That is why Ghana is underdeveloped”.
He also slammed political party delegates and Ghanaian voters in particular, asking them to also accept blame for our inability to deal with the canker of corruption.
He argued that the monitization of internal and national elections has created a deeper problem for the country at all levels.
He opined that Ghanaians have planted the seed of corruption in politicians through their demand for money and other valuables before voting for them.
Stephen Atubiga asserted that “these politicians do not have the means to fund their political offices, and so when the Ghanaian voters demand money from them before voting for them, they steal from the state coffess when they get into office to recoup what they spent on their campaigns.
You have planted the seed of corruption in them, and so when they get power or are elected into office, they will steal from your state.”
He said “when political leaders travel across the country to campaign, the people are not interested in listening to what the politicians will say but rather in the financial benefits they will get.
“When politicians pay courtesy calls on our chiefs, they are more interested in the money and drinks the politician will bring than the message the politician will deliver. They are more concerned with how politicians will provide money than with the message. People are also interested in money, not policies or programmes. So when they achieve power, all they concentrate about is how to recuperate their campaign expenses.
That is why we are where we are today. Ghanaians have planted the seed of corruption in the pockets of politicians. Until Ghanaians to start giving politicians free votes based on their brains and vision and not their pockets; we will not be able to deal with corruption.”
He also underscored the need for us to deal with the issue of protocol in how people are recruited or granted opportunities in the country.
Such protocols, he said, should be reserved for qualified but underprivileged persons and not persons who are associated with the political elite.
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
