“I took GHC870,000 loan for 2016 elections and lost” – Rachel Florence Appoh

Rachel Florence Appoh, former Deputy Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection under the erstwhile Mahama government,  has disclosed the struggles politicians go through during elections.

According to her, the Ghanaian political system has been monetized to the extent that without money one cannot win any election.

In an interview monitored by The Ghana Report, Ms. Appoh said, she took a loan of GHC700,000 to finance her 2016 parliamentary bid in Gomoa Central Constituency in the Central Region, which she lost.

“I personally took GHC700,000 but due to the negligence of a particular bank, they transferred extra GHC170,000 into my account which I used and later paid back. The thing is, I cannot spend GHC100,000 in two weeks but during campaign seasons I can spend even more than that in just two weeks. The demand is too high and you’re bound to meet them because you want to satisfy everybody and that is what brings about the excesses,” she noted.

Ms. Appoh’s assertion buttresses the point that the National Commission for Civic Education’s (NCCE)boss, Josephine Nkrumah, made that no principled politician can survive in Ghana.

“Delegates accept money before they endorse a parliamentary candidate. So, the Parliamentary candidate who you see most likely has already besmeared his hands or her hands because you had to pay money to a delegate to get to that position…the average politician coming into the sphere of politics in Ghana today is already tainted. Why would you borrow money to go into politics?” she quizzed.