Politics Of The Highest Bidder Affects Quality Leadership – Kwesi Pratt

Co-founder of the Socialist Forum of Ghana, Kwesi Pratt Jnr has expressed concern at the increasing monetization of politics and political parties in the country, saying it is taking a toll on the quality of leaders required for development.

He said politics today has been denigrated to who has the purchasing prowess to buy him or herself into power without necessarily having the leadership intellect to direct the affairs of the nation to foster development.

Mr Pratt said this at a public lecture organized by the Socialist Forum of Ghana to mark the 110th anniversary in honour of late Dr. Kwame Nkrumah in Accra.

He said “today politics is all about money. It is about who has money to pay delegates and that is the problem. If you don’t have money to pay delegates you are finished and so now look at the quality of leadership we have in this country. It is as a result of the emphasis on money”.

He was speaking on the topic: “Relevance of Nkrumah: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow”.

Mr Pratt called for a paradigm shift on how political parties and politics is perceived in the country.

Formation of political parties, he said, should be viewed as an intellectual activity that should bring understanding to issues rather than just electoral machinery.

“We form movements, we form political parties and we think that political parties are all about elections. We renege on our responsibilities only to wake up at election periods and make small noises.

The lecture was attended by ambassadors and representatives of some Asian and African countries, representatives of some political parties and the public.

---GNA