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“In days gone by, whatever vote-buying or selling there was, took place in secrecy. It’s not so these days. What we have now looks like an open market where candidates can freely buy votes and citizens can freely sell their votes in broad daylight while we all look on seemingly unconcerned. It is a shameful spectacle because vote buying and vote selling are unlawful” Dr Kwadwo Afari Gyan said.
Speaking as the keynote speaker at the Constitution Day Public Lecture on January 8, 2024, Dr. Kwadwo Afari-Gyan, the longest-serving Chairman of the Electoral Commission in Ghana, referred to the practice of buying and selling votes in broad daylight during national elections as a “shameful spectacle.”
Dr. Afari-Gyan emphasized the difference between the current brazenness of candidates openly purchasing votes and citizens selling their votes in broad daylight compared to past practices where such activities were covert an act he considered illegal.
Dr. Afari-Gyan emphasized the illegality of these actions, pointing out that vote-selling erodes the idea of holding elected officials accountable while vote-buying undermines the idea of choosing leaders freely.
Concluding with the stark statement that “All is not well with our democracy,” he urged Ghanaians to take his candid assessment as a wake-up call, acknowledging the erosion of democratic values and demanding better from their leaders.
Dr. Afari-Gyan also bemoaned the frequency of broken political promises at the event, which was organized by the One Ghana Movement and the University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA) Law School.
He believes that rather than putting forth specific policies, politicians frequently place more importance on making and keeping promises.
He questioned the politicians’ sincerity in keeping many of their promises, calling broken promises “a millstone around a politician’s neck,” and threatening party members who were not originally involved in making the promises.
“One cannot be sure that even the politicians themselves believe that they can fulfil the numerous promises that they make,” the former EC boss stated.
Source: Ghanatodayonline.com
