The Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition (GACC), in partnership with the Ghana Integrity Initiative and ACEP, has initiated a project titled “Safeguarding Ghana's Stability in the Face of Serious and Organized Crime Threats during the 2024 Elections.”
The project aims to raise awareness about the detrimental impact of electoral corruption and serious crimes on Ghana's democratic process.
Ms Beauty Emefa Nartey, the Executive Secretary of GACC, highlighted the prevalence of vote-buying as a major concern tarnishing the country's democratic credentials.
“Notwithstanding the modest progress in electoral politics, issues of abuse of office, misuse of state resources, election-related corruption, vote-buying… had the propensity to mar the future of not only the development of the human and socio-economic capital but the cherished democratic credentials of the state,” Ms Nartey emphasized.
She further expressed concern that transactional elections, characterized by vote-buying, were evolving into security issues and fostering the growth of economic organized crime.
Ms Nartey explained, “It is believed that high-profile social influencers invest their ill-earned monies in the process to protect their crimes aside from engendering the political space and sustainable development.”
Highlighting the escalating cost of elections in Ghana, Ms Nartey stressed that the trend promoted monetization and financial excesses in the electoral process, even at the primary level.
The overarching goal of the GACC project is to raise awareness about the need to reject the monetization of electoral processes, which undermines societal progress.
“Voting for the candidate with the highest bid to win often deprives constituents of fair competition, competence, and patriotism,” Ms. Nartey remarked.
She urged Ghanaians to be vigilant against overspending by the political class in the 2024 elections, emphasizing the importance of collective action to combat this practice.
“We are the very people who pay in disguise with the lack of proper roads, hospitals, schools, and better working conditions in the long round,” Ms Nartey asserted.