A former Chairman of the Electoral Commission (EC), Dr. Kwadwo Afari-Gyan, on Monday voiced serious concerns about the open vote-buying-and-selling that has become increasingly prevalent in Ghana’s politics.
Dr. Afari-Gyan, in a strongly-worded keynote address during the Constitution Day Public Lecture on January 8, 2024, labelled the phenomenon as a shameful spectacle in the country’s electoral processes.
Expressing his worry, Dr. Afari-Gyan questioned why nothing had been done about this illegal practice.
He emphasised that such open and blatant vote-buying-and-selling tarnishes the image of the country’s democracy.
Dr. Afari-Gyan stressed that no civilised country engages in such despicable conduct, urging Ghana to take immediate action to address this issue.
“In days gone by, whatever vote-buying or selling there was took place in secrecy. It’s not so these days. 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 seemingly unconcerned.”
“It is a shameful spectacle because vote buying and vote selling are unlawful,” he said.
During his address, Dr. Kwadwo Afari-Gyan also issued a stern warning about the potential repercussions of unfulfilled promises, emphasising that Ghanaians may soon lose faith in the political class if commitments are not met.
“Our politicians spend a lot of time making and repeating promises to the electorate. One cannot be sure that even the politicians themselves believe that they can fulfil the numerous promises that they make.”
