Senior lecturer and political marketing communication expert at the University of Ghana Business School (UGBS) Dr. Kobby Mensah has argued that the more older people we find in Ghana’s political system, the more corruption there is.
He explained that when people who have not been able to achieve their goals get the opportunity at the top quartile of their ages, they try to unleash all their ambitions at the top end. But if young people are given the opportunity and they know that they have more years ahead they will be mindful of the consequences of their actions in future.
“When people are at the tail end of their lives and certain ambitions have not been achieved, that is when we see our resources dissipated because they feel they don’t have enough time and so they want to rake in a lot more before they go. So the more older people we find in our political system, the more corruption there is.” Dr. Mensah stressed.
He also admitted that though it takes resources to do politics, it is not just about money but skills, creativity and time which the young people have hence they should be given the space.
“We have to open up the space and change our thinking about the role of young people in our political system. If we do that we will see more productivity than we are experiencing now” he told Johnnie Hughes on 3FM Sunrise Morning Show.
According to him, political leadership requires energetic people who can actually manage the situation and there are young people managing big corporations which are far richer than Ghana.
Dr. Kobby Mensah predicted that more younger people will step into the political space especially because of social media and what it offers in terms of developing the competencies of young people by exposing them to political issues.
He further explained that through the modern media, the young people have seen how their age mates have been elected as top political leaders and even as presidents or prime ministers in other countries so they are motivated to also aspire for political leadership.
By Samuel Afriyie Owusu|3news.com|Ghana