Vote buying: Use undercover investigations to expose politicians and voters – Dr. Asante

Director of Programmes and Policy Engagement at the Ghana Centre for Democratic Development-Ghana (CDD-Ghana), Kojo Pumpuni Asante has suggested that state security and law enforcement agencies use undercover tactics to be able to expose and sanction politicians who engage in vote-buying.

He noted that without the use of such tactics, it will be extremely difficult to gather evidence to prosecute people for it.

Dr. Asante, who made the suggestion on Multimedia’s Newsfile programme Saturday, July 1, 2023, added that he had already engaged the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP), charged with dealing with corruption and corruption-related offences, to look into the incidence of vote-buying and deploy undercover tactics in fighting the menace of both vote-buying and vote-buying selling.

“I’ve tried to press on the Special Prosecutor, who is charged with dealing with politically exposed persons, to get into the space because I really think it’s not just about vote-buying; I think it’s vote selling and vote-buying,” he revealed.

He stressed that it was important to punish citizens who willfully sell their votes to politicians and not just target the politicians who buy the votes.

“So, I think this example has to be set in terms of even the citizens who are also receiving the money. But I think the tactics should also include undercover because you’re not going to really get people coming forward to say we’re receiving cash,” he emphasized.

The Assin North

The by-election election has been dogged by allegations of vote-buying by both the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP). Though both parties have denied the allegations, political watchers have called for sanctions for the perpetrators of the act.