PRESS RELEASE
TO: ALL MEDIA HOUSES
DATE: 24TH NOVEMBER 2024

THE AFRICAN ELECTORAL INSTITUTE (AEI) WISHES TO BRING TO ATTENTION OF THE GHANAIAN PUBLIC THE OFFENCE, GRAVITY AND CONSEQUENCE OF VOTE-BUYING AND OTHER ELECTION RELATED OFFENSES

The African Electoral Institute wishes to call on all Ghanaians to consciously join the fight to ostracize vote buying and all forms of election fraud.

AEI wishes to let all citizens know that the representation of the people’s law, 1992, PNDC law 284,
Section 33-Bribery states that:

(1) A person commits the offence of bribery—

(a) if he directly or acting through another person—

(i) gives money or obtains an office for a voter in order to induce the voter to vote or refrain from voting; or

(ii) corruptly does such an act on account of a voter having voted or refrained from voting; or

(iii) makes a gift or provides something of value to a voter to induce the voter to vote in a certain way or to obtain the election of a candidate or

(b) if he advances or pays money or causes money to be paid to or for the use of a person with the intent that the money or part of it shall be expended in bribery at an election, or knowingly pays money or causes money to be paid to a person in discharge or repayment of money wholly or in part expended in bribery at an election; or

(c) if before or during an election he directly or indirectly, by himself or through another person acting on his behalf, receives, agrees or contracts for money, gift, a loan or valuable consideration or an office, place or employment for himself or for another person for voting or agreeing to vote or for refraining or agreeing to refrain from voting; or

(d) if after an election he directly or through another person receives money or valuable consideration on account of a person having voted or refrained from voting or having induced another person to vote or to refrain from voting.

(2) For the purpose of subsection (1)—

(a) references to giving money include giving, lending, agreeing to give or lend, offering, promising, and promising to procure or to endeavour to procure money or valuable consideration; and

(b) references to procuring office include giving, procuring, agreeing to give or procure, offering, promising, and promising to procure or to endeavour to procure an office, place or employment.

In view of the above, AEI wishes to encourage all Ghanaians to hold the laws of the land in high esteem and and eschew any form of bribery and corruption in the form of vote buying which may have dire consequences when caught.

It is the view of the African Electoral Institute that vote buying, if not checked or controlled, has the potential to undermine the integrity of our democracy and betray the trust of the voters or the Ghanaian people. We must, therefore, work together to ensure that our elections reflect the genuine will of the people and not the influence of money or coercion.

The African Electoral Institute wishes to reiterate that vote buying, if allowed to permeate our political landscape, has consequences, which include, but are not limited to, the following:

Vote buying has the potential to erode public confidence in the electoral process, thereby undermining or damaging the very foundation of our democracy.

Vote buying can alter or distort election outcomes, leading to the election of leaders not based on merit, undeserving of the position, and also who do not represent the interests and aspirations of the people.

Vote buying has the potential to perpetuate corruption and creates a culture where politicians feel pressured to engage in wrongdoing or illicit activities to maintain power.

The African Electoral Institute remains committed to promoting free, fair, and transparent elections in Ghana and will continue to work with all political parties, Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), and electoral bodies or authorities to:
a. Build robust electoral institutions that can resist manipulation and ensure the integrity of the electoral process.
b. Educate voters on the dangers of vote buying and the importance of exercising their franchise.
c. Support anti-corruption efforts by collaborating with anti-corruption agencies to investigate and prosecute cases of vote buying expeditiously.

In conclusion, the African Electoral Institute wishes to reiterate that political actors should devote their efforts to educating or informing their supporters of what they have in their party manifestos that will benefit or change their lives if given the nod, instead of trying to induce them with gifts or money, which is a recipe for corruption that does not benefit them in the long run.
The AEI, therefore, urges all political stakeholders to join in this critical effort to curb vote buying so that together, we can build a democratic system that truly serves the people of Ghana.
AEI also encourages enforcers of the law (Police) to make sure that perpetrators are arrested and made to face the full rigours of the law.

-End-

SIGNED
Joshua Adjin-Tettey
Director of Communications and External Relations
0540904550

Engr. Judge Hasford Quartey
Deputy Director of Communications and External Relations.
0547510174

Ex. WO1 Alhaji Yussif Mahamah
Electoral Security Department
0243311965

About Us:
African Electoral Institute ( AEI) is a Civil Society Organisation (CSO) founded to deliver sustainable electoral solutions to Emerging and Developed Democracies to strengthen, augment, and build electoral stakeholders capacity and participation on electoral issues through electoral education on voter’s rights and freedom, electoral research, election monitoring, election observation, election results collation, election security awareness and training of polling agents and elections directors underscoring the fact that “elections are won at the polling stations’’ and the participation of all identifiable electoral stakeholders in an electoral process such as Political Parties, Governmental Institutions, underpinning transparency and accountability for a free, fair, and credible elections in Africa and the wider world.
We are on: africanelectoralinstitute.com
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