{"id":252835,"date":"2016-09-28T10:00:48","date_gmt":"2016-09-28T10:00:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=252835"},"modified":"2016-09-28T10:00:48","modified_gmt":"2016-09-28T10:00:48","slug":"stop-sharing-freebies-for-votes-group-to-mahama","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2016\/09\/stop-sharing-freebies-for-votes-group-to-mahama\/","title":{"rendered":"Stop sharing freebies for votes- Group to Mahama"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Pro-opposition group, \u2018The Truth Forum\u2019 has cautioned President John Mahama to desist from what it calls the distribution of freebies to buy votes ahead of the December 7 elections.<\/p>\n<p>According to one of the leaders of the group, Yaw Buaben Asamoah, President Mahama&#8217;s giving of gifts on the campaign trail in the name of public policy initiatives is not only a waste of the country&#8217;s resources\u00a0 but demeaning to the country&#8217;s democracy.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe message therefore to His Excellency the President is to desist from the ongoing very public give away culture unprecedented in its openness and insensitivity because it is not only futile but also brings the high office of the presidency into disrepute and shame,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p>Addressing a news conference in Accra today [Tuesday], Mr. Boaben Asamoah called on Ghanaians not to fall for the freebies but vote out President Mahama for poorly managing the country.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMany voters are very aware of the high stakes in this election and will therefore not be swayed by gift giving and vote buying.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAfter six general elections since the inception of the fourth republic, many Ghanaians have gained enough experience of the true nature and purpose of elections and have thus moved beyond mere inducement offered at elections,\u201d he stated.<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Boaben Asamoah who is also the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Parliamentary aspirant for Adentan in the Greater Accra Region said Ghanaians are wise enough and would therefore not be swayed by petty or grand style vote buying schemes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is because voters realise that vote buying and election related gift giving does not address their core concerns and needs which include sustained employment, increasing incomes, reliable and affordable utilities and accessible social services,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Boaben Asamoah said given the lack of political traction for vote buying; the NPP would not have engaged the NDC administration.<\/p>\n<p>However, he said the NPP is worried because of the alarming waste of questionable resources in which the Mahama administration is \u00a0giving away vehicles, houses, motor bikes, outboard motors, head pans, gas cylinders, tablets, mobile telephones and cash to some Ghanaians ostensibly to get votes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIndeed the infamous picture of His Excellency president Mahama stuffing cash into the pocket of a chief on the street in the full glare of the public shows the depth to which the presidency has in desperation sunk in pursuit of a phantom political desire,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Distribution of outboard motors worse than vote buying- GII<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Anti-corruption group, Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII) has said the distribution of outboard motors to fishermen by President John Mahama in the Western Region was worse than\u00a0vote buying.<\/p>\n<p>The Executive Director of GII,\u00a0Linda Ofori Kwafo said \u201cIt is akin to\u00a0abuse of office.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_168785\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-168785\" style=\"width: 800px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-168785\" src=\"http:\/\/ghelections.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/14064015-1121190941308739-204988255575412098-n-1-.jpg\" alt=\"The outboard motors distributed by President Mahama\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-168785\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The outboard motors distributed by President Mahama<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Her comments came after President Mahama began\u00a0his campaign tour of the Western Region with the distribution of outboard motors to some fisher folks.<\/p>\n<p>At separate durbars with the fishermen in Axim and Sekondi, President Mahama distributed the\u00a0outboard motors to\u00a0help improve their working conditions.<\/p>\n<p>But the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) 2016 Campaign Spokesperson, Joyce Mogtari, said the sharing of the outboard motors was part of a government intervention and not intended to buy votes.<\/p>\n<p>She said the outboard motors were purchased with state funds and distributed by the president who was performing his duties as a president and not as a candidate.<\/p>\n<p>_<\/p>\n<p>By: Awudu Mahama &amp; Duke Mensah Opoku\/ghelections.com\/Ghana<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Pro-opposition group, \u2018The Truth Forum\u2019 has cautioned President John Mahama to desist from what it calls the distribution of freebies to buy votes ahead of the December 7 elections. According to one of the leaders of the group, Yaw Buaben Asamoah, President Mahama&#8217;s giving of gifts on the campaign trail in the name of public [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":252836,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2647,2648,58,11],"tags":[12121,2356,3,5162,464,12122],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Stop sharing freebies for votes- Group to Mahama - Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. 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