Member of Parliament for Ningo-Prampram, Sam Nartey George, has sought to explain the genesis of the unending corrupt practices hovering around politicians in the country.

Per his submission on JoyNews' Newsfile monitored by The Independent Ghana on July 22, the corrupt practices politicians engage in begins with businessmen with corrupt mindset.

According to him, politicians seek the assistance of businessmen to fund their campaigns due to the cost involved.

And during this period, in his words, "You have corrupt businessmen and corrupt business interest that will corrupt politicians - (to) fund them."

Providing the financial support to the politician, he said is not the end goal, as the money has to be provided to electorates to get politicians into office.

For him, fighting corruption seems like an impossible task as the aforementioned is "an endless cycle".

"I've said this before. We have a supposed fight against corruption. The electorates feel the electoral cycle is the only time where they can actually get a share of the national cake.Because the political class have created a certain gulf between ourselves and the populace. You have corrupt business men and corrupt business interest that will corrupt politicians - fund them. But that money does not necessarily sit with politicians. It has to trickle down for you to then get office. It is an endless cycle," he said.

Mr Nartey George cited the just-ended by-election in Assin North to exemplify the truth on the ground.

During the Assin North by-election, viral videos on social media showed members of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) engaging in vote-buying although the party has dismissed this claim.

Already, Director of Advocacy and Policy Engagement at the Center for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana) Dr. Pumpuni Asante in an interview on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show, warned that due to the enormous resources pumped into campaigns, the development of the country is not the priority of politicians.

He noted that the priority of many elected leaders is to recoup their expenses when they get into power.

“We actually risk the democracy that we have established. And we are 30 years into the Fourth Republic and we are putting it at risk. Because increasingly, the people who come into government because they need to recoup their investment, and of course some of them are greedy and they want to amass all the wealth, we don’t get the development and dividends that we are supposed to get.

“And people are beginning to ask themselves ‘why should we continue doing this?’ So we are running out of time and we need to correct these problems,” he said.

According to research, it is estimated that a candidate in a parliamentary contest in Ghana spends around GH₵350,000 ($60,000) on their campaign.

At the presidential level, a candidate is required to spend significantly more, with figures ranging from GH₵5 million ($867,000) to GH₵50 million ($8.67 million) or even more.

These costs are primarily for advertising, transportation, and paying party agents and supporters.