The “Right Candidate” Debate: Guidance or Manipulation?

Politics as we all know is a very dirty game. Politics exists all over the world in our various countries all over the world and we have all seen with our naked eyes what goes on behind the scenes. In my country Ghana, we know what happens in the political games. Year after year, we see different political parties come into the system, promise us things and we vote them into power only for the story to end up as something else. One thing I have learnt over the years about voters especially Africans is that, voters will always vote for who they want and who they want is all about who is able to convince them enough.

Convincing someone to vote for you in a political campaign comes in different forms. We have voter who are convinced by what they see and hear , that is your policies, your actions and your past work. Then we have those who will vote for you based on your origin. If you’re from my hometown, I vote for you even if you perform terribly.

Then we have those who vote depending on who is able to pay them well. Some voters have come to accept that things never go as promised so they make sure to reap all the benefits they can before the elections. They will take whatever political parties offer, be it money, foodstuff and what have you. But as to they actually vote for you, only they know.

At the end of the day, the story is the same everywhere. We don’t know whom we can trust when it comes to political parties. But when things get very bad, we all know what to do without being told. Let’s take my country Ghana for example. Things were very bad for us a few years back. The party in power was so power drank and our country was falling apart. Citizens couldn’t even exercise their right to freedom of speech anymore for fear of losing their lives. But when election season came, we all knew what to do. We went out and voted in our numbers for the right party.

For once, Ghanaian youth stood up for what was right for us and our nation. This was all it took for us to finally see the lucky. After decades of voting for all the wrong reason, we finally voted for the right reason. We didn’t need to be told, we had seen enough. That’s just what it takes. Politics has always been this way and until we start standing up for what is right and due to us, the story will still be the same.

I don’t know about other countries but for Ghanaian youth, we are standing for ourselves now. We aren’t letting people just lie to us and go scot free. We are holding everyone accountable for their actions because why not. It’s the taxpayers money and it’s our country. A good county serves to benefit us all , not just someone and his family members. We deserve the best, and so we must make sure to get what’s due us.

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all images belong to me.

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