IEA slams NPP for “abuse” of incumbency in Elections 2008

The Institute of Economic Affairs – Ghana (IEA), a public policy think-tank, has slammed the New Patriotic Party (NPP) for abuse of incumbency in Elections 2008 as the then ruling party.

“The most flagrant abuses involve the use of state vehicles, state security apparatuses, state officials, state venues and paraphernalia, and state helicopters to distribute campaign materials of its presidential candidate, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo,” the IEA said.

“Last-minute flurry of sod-cutting for projects and its commissioning activities by then President John Agyekum Kufuor was seen as inuring to the benefit of the ruling NPP’s candidate,” IEA stated in a document made available to the Ghana News Agency in Accra on Saturday.

The document titled: “Report on the 2008 general elections in Ghana,” also said Nana Akufo-Addo “was awash in resources and some estimated him as out-spending his seven other presidential opponents put together by as much as 30:1 ratio”.

The IEA also noted that the NPP campaign for Elections 2008 was by far the most attractive and the most covered by the media. “It was a clear case of incumbency advantage at its best.

“The presidential candidate of the party had his photographs plastered on huge billboards all across the country. One could find bill boards at every corner.

“The NDC on the other hand embarked on a house-to-house campaign. Their campaign was therefore not as visible but nevertheless effective,” the IEA concluded.

The document acknowledged that even though there was no generally agreed definition of “abuse of incumbency”, it is easily recognised as the use of state facilities and resources by an incumbent Government for the purposes of prosecuting its electoral agenda.

The IEA noted that abuse of incumbency was normally most obscene when there was an incumbent President who was participating in the elections.

However the NPP abused the system although there was no incumbent President or Vice President participating in the 2008 elections.

According to the IEA the expectation of civil society activists was that abuse of incumbency would be kept to a minimum.

The IEA said: “Abuse of incumbency is a very real threat to Ghanaian elections and legislation may be required to regulate the ruling party’s utilization of state assets and state resources in an election year.

“Political control of the security services during elections, which tend to be abused for political advantage, ought to be reviewed.”

Focusing on “The 2008 elections and the democratic future of Ghana,” the IEA report affirmed that the Ghanaian political landscape was now characterized effectively by a two-party political system and the future politics of the country was likely to be dominated by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the NPP.

The IEA therefore recommended, as a stop gap measure, the passage of the law on public funding of political parties stressing that “unless support is given to the smaller political parties, their political future is very bleak indeed”.

“Policy centres, think-tanks and civil societies such as the IEA must be supported in their efforts to facilitate inter-party dialogue and cooperative moves between and among the political parties.”

The IEA also suggested that the role of a state media in a liberalised political environment such as Ghana’s, ought to be revisited, while legislation on affirmative action to ensure increased and effective women’s participation in the political and electoral process ought to be considered.

The IEA called for the creation of a level playing field for all political parties through equal access to resources and to programmes organized by the media.

“Inadequate or lack of coverage of political parties’ programmes, contributed to a lack of information or misconceptions about political party activities in the eyes of the electorate,” it said.