Chief Investigator at the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), George Adzovie, has urged Ghanaians to report incidents of vote buying and other electoral inducements instead of tolerating the practice.
According to him, voting is not only a constitutional right but also a responsibility that requires citizens to exercise their conscience and consider the values and integrity of candidates before making their choices.
“Voting is a constitutional right. Voting talks about conscience as well. Your conscience will guide you as to who to vote for, value and integrity as well,” Mr Adzovie said.
He was speaking at a public dialogue organised by Adom Brands on the increasing influence of money in Ghana’s democratic process.
The event, dubbed “Democracy Is Not For Sale,” took place at the Ascension Hall in Koforidua. It was organised by Adom Brands of the Multimedia Group Limited in collaboration with the JoyNews Impact Makers Foundation.
Mr Adzovie said Ghana’s laws clearly prescribe how elections should be conducted and how citizens are expected to exercise their right to vote.
“The laws prescribe how elections should be conducted and how each citizen must also exercise that right to vote. So, we have procedure and direction as to how elections should be done,” he stated.
He cautioned voters against accepting money, gifts or other forms of inducement from political actors in exchange for their votes, saying such conduct undermines the country’s electoral laws.
According to him, both the person offering an inducement and the voter who knowingly accepts it could be engaging in conduct that violates the law.
“So anyone who goes beyond that to bring vanity to you and you also accept it, you are breaching the laws of the land, and those actions need to be taken on,” he said.
Mr Adzovie expressed concern that Ghanaians have increasingly become tolerant of vote buying instead of reporting the practice to the appropriate authorities.
“We tolerate vote buying instead of reporting it, and it destroys our society,” he warned.
He said the country’s legal framework provides protection for whistleblowers and encouraged citizens to make use of the available mechanisms to expose electoral offences.
“The law makes provision for whistleblowers. We have the laws, so we need to make use of them,” he added.
Mr Adzovie urged Ghanaians to take greater responsibility for protecting the integrity of the electoral process by rejecting inducements and reporting individuals who attempt to influence their votes through money or other benefits.
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