The integrity of the presidential debate is always in doubt – Educationist

A Senior Lecturer at the University of Education, Winneba has asserted that most political parties in Ghana do not want to partake in a presidential debate because they believe it has been rigged to a certain level.

According to him, there have been allegations of moderators for the presidential debate which are yet to be institutionalized providing questions to some of these candidates.

Dr. Ahmed Jinapor speaking in an interview with Happy 98.9 FM’s Samuel Eshun, host of the Happy Morning Show said, “The integrity of the presidential debate has always been in doubt. In the last presidential debate, we had individuals with strong political affiliations moderating the debate.”

“The current Minister for Information under the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Kojo Oppong Nkrumah and the Vice Presidential Candidate for the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Jane Naana Opoku were the moderators for the last presidential debate. So where was the fairness in this?” he queried.

He noted that it was even suspected that questions for that debate was agreed upon by the parties involved. “Someone even accused Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang of leaking some of the questions. But when it comes to a presidential debate, there has to be a high level of integrity.”

When asked if there were really any neutrals to uphold the integrity of the debate, the educationist admitted that all humans are political animals but not all have strong political affiliations. He noted that such people should be made moderators of subsequent presidential debates.

Dr. Jinapor noted that it is high time Ghana institutionalized the presidential debate. “The debate has to be institutionalized and made part and parcel of the electoral process. If we have a system that says the two (2) parties should have a debate, then there is no disagreement on that. Everyone will respect the decision.”

The Flagbearer of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Former President John Dramani Mahama has challenged President Akufo-Addo to a debate on the records of their respective governments in the area of infrastructure.

The challenge came after the Vice President, Mahamudu Bawumia said the Akufo-Addo-led administration has constructed more infrastructure projects (17,000) in less time than the NDC managed in eight years. And candidate Mahama believes the debate will bring a conclusion to the matter.