Even Peter Mac Manu, National Chairman of the neo-conservative New Patriotic Party (NPP) has found the phenomenon of 'monetics' so repulsive that he has asked fellow party members to watch their step. According to The Insight various newspapers have quoted Mac Manu as advising delegates to the NPP National Congress not to swear by gods that they will vote for particular aspirants after collecting inducement money. Significantly, he did not threaten that the party will take action against those who are openly buying delegates and their votes. The paper said virtually all the aspirants in the NPP race with the exception of Mr. Alan Kyerematen otherwise known as Alan Cash have condemned the influence of money in the campaign for the presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party. President Kufuor has also jumped onto the bandwagon after declaring that corruption is as old as Adam and inferring that it is a human trait. He admonishes delegates to vote for an aspirant who is focused on national development instead of one with a deep pocket. Interestingly, says the paper, any criticism of the injection of heavy doses of money into the political campaign appears to be one more nail in the coffin of Kyerematen’s ambition to become president. Perhaps this is so because the Kyerematen campaign has made the point of flaunting its cash in the face of everybody. They have published advertisements which simply say “Vote Alan for Cash.” Whiles the Alan Campaign may not be the most endowed, it is taking all the flak for monetizing national politics because of its extremely backward campaign strategy. There is some speculation that the Akufo-Addo Campaign may be more resourced and indeed could be spending far more money than the Kyerematen team. However, Nana has been much more sophisticated about dishing money out as a means of winning the presidential race. The amounts of money raised at fund raisers have been kept as tight secrets and payments to party loyalists have been kept out of t he media. The Insight said any cursory examination of the financial commitments of aspiring candidates in all the political parties would suggest very strongly that they are all living way above their lawful means. Source: The Insight