Political Scientist Dr. Bonsu Osei-Owusu has observed that politicians who aspire to be in parliament often promise to construct roads and improve infrastructure for their constituency when in actual fact, that is not their work to do.
According to him, these politicians are unable to fulfill these promises and subsequently cause apathy among voters.
He made mention of this in an interview with Samuel Eshun on the Happy Morning Show while discussing the cause and solution to voter apathy in Ghana.
“We can change [Voter apathy] only if the Members of Parliament (MPs) change their style of campaigning. They promise infrastructure when that is not their job. If they continue with that there will be voter apathy.
Voter apathy also comes about when it is observed that the people who become MPs only amass wealth when they are in that position”.
Speaking on the solution to voter apathy, Dr, Osei-Owusu suggested, “The NCCE can only educate Ghanaians, only if it is vibrant and the MPs must also let people know their actual work and stop making promises that they cannot fulfill. Then people will understand why they are voting”.
With two months to the general elections in December, the Coalition of Domestic Election Observers (CODEO) has observed that civic/voter education is generally low in the country.
In a pre-election monitoring report, CODEO, therefore, urged the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) and the Electoral Commission (EC) to take advantage of other forms of communication other than traditional media to educate the public.