A Founding Father of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr Nyaho Nyaho-Tamakloe, has said that vote-buying appears to have been normalised in Ghana.
He stated that the leadership of the various political parties are unconcerned about the exchange of money even in their internal elections.
To him, the practice of buying votes poses a threat to Ghana’s democracy.
Speaking on the Ghana Tonight show on Tv3 Tuesday January 9, he said “it appears to have been normalised. The various political parties even, in their internal elections, money has been exchanging hands and they don’t even hide it. To me it is a bit concerning that leadership of the parties are not doing anything about it, they themselves are involved. This poses threat to our democracy. The moment people with dirty money who don’t care about how they use it can buy their way into our legislature, then as a nation we are finished.”
His comments come at a time Former Chair of the Electoral Commission (EC) Dr Kwadwo Afari-Gyan highlighted the threats of vote-buying and vote-selling to Ghana’s democracy.
Dr Afari-Gyan stated that vote-buying and vote-selling undermine the democracy of the country because they weaken the people from holding the elected leaders accountable through elections.
Delivering the Constitution Day public lecture on the theme “Reflections on our democracy: The Constitution, Elections and the Judiciary” organised by the University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA) and One Ghana Movement, on Monday, January 8, Dr Afari-Gyan described vote-buying as a shameful spectacle.
He said among other things that “Vote-buying, in days gone by, whatever vote-buying or vote-selling there was, took place in secrecy. What we have now looks like an open market where candidates can freely buy votes and citizens can freely sell their votes in broad daylight while we all look on unconcerned.
“But it is a shameful spectacle because vote-buying and vote-selling are unlawful and they undermine two important principles that underpin our democracy. Vote-buying undermines the idea that we choose our leaders out of our free will and vote-selling undermines the idea that we always hold our elected leaders accountable through elections.
“I believe that our democracy is stifled when election results seize to be a true representation of our verdict on the performance of our leaders, we cannot therefore hold them accountable through elections. That is precisely what the election open market portends.”