Eastern Regional Director of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), Ophelia Nana Yaa Ankrah, has called for collective action to tackle the growing influence of money and inducements in Ghana’s democratic processes.
According to her, the increasing use of money and gifts to influence voters poses a serious threat to the country’s democratic values and must be addressed before the practice becomes further entrenched in society.
“We are always making the laws, yet we do a different thing. In the olden days, people used to vote on merit, but nowadays people won’t be bribed before they even go out to vote,” she said.
Ms Ankrah was speaking at Adom Brands’ public dialogue on the growing influence of money in Ghana’s democratic process, dubbed “Democracy Is Not For Sale.”
The forum, held at the Ascension Hall in Koforidua, was organised by Adom Brands of the Multimedia Group Limited in partnership with the JoyNews Impact Makers Foundation.
She said corruption and vote-buying had become deeply concerning and warned that failure to confront the practice could have far-reaching consequences for the country.
“If we all don’t come together to fight against corruption, it will eat us more than it has already done,” she stated.
Ms Ankrah noted that public perception of politics had changed significantly, with many Ghanaians increasingly believing that selflessness and genuine service were no longer central to political leadership.
“Ghanaians perceive there is no selflessness in politics anymore,” she said.
She further expressed concern that the culture of inducement had extended to primary schools, where children allegedly offer gifts to their colleagues in exchange for votes during school elections.
“It has gotten all the way to our primary schools, where they bribe their colleagues by giving them gifts, even pens or pencils, so they elect them for prefectship,” she stated.
According to Ms Ankrah, the development should concern all stakeholders because it risks normalising bribery and inducement among young people from an early age.
She therefore called for a national conversation and concerted effort to address the issue, urging citizens to first acknowledge that the country has a problem with money influencing democratic choices.
“We need to all come together and accept that we have a problem and find ways to curb the situation,” she added.
She stressed the need for citizens, political parties, civil society organisations, educational institutions and other stakeholders to work together to restore merit, integrity and accountability to Ghana’s democratic processes.
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