POLITICS AND CORRUPTION IN AFRICA

Politics is the power to allocate resources for the welfare of society. In Africa particularly Ghana, capturing the power has become so expensive and more important than allocating the resources.

I vividly remember how my loved ones described the beaming smile I had on when I walked to a podium on 10th November, 2018 to receive a citation for my service as the 2017/2018 Press and Information Secretary of the University Students' Association of Ghana (USAG) - the biggest university students unions in Ghana- as very heartwarming one. Apart from the fact that I was satisfied with my service to my constituents and the lessons learnt from being a leader, I wasn't as happy as I depicted in that smile. I felt the money spent in campaigning for the position wasn't worthy. But for my patriotism, I probably would have engaged in several corrupt activities with the position in the quest to recoup the amount spent during campaign.

In seeking for the position, I had to travel from my campus to almost all member Universities of USAG, pay exorbitant nomination fee and print posters, flyers and banners. I did all these as a student then who was been catered for by my parents. If we are spending such outrageous amount to capture power as student politicians, how much more do you need to enter into mainstream politics?

The two main political parties in Ghana spend huge sums of money on campaign for their internal elections. For the general elections, the least said about, the better.

Politicians after winning power try to recoup the amount lost during the campaign and that is just one of the reasons why politicians become corrupt.