Ghanaian anti-graft campaigners say electoral corruption threat to democracy

A coalition of anti-graft campaigners in Ghana Friday expressed worry at the level of electoral corruption, saying the practice was a threat to the country's fledgling democracy.

The coalition made their views known here at the launch of a report titled "Reducing Abuse of Incumbency and Electoral Corruption in Ghana's 2016 Elections."

The coalition comprise the Ghana Integrity Initiative, Citizen Movement Against Corruption (CMAC), Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition, and the Centre for Democratic Development.

Edem Senanu, member of the CMAC, who spoke for the coalition, described the incidence of "vote buying" and "vote selling" as worrying trends in the run-up to the country's presidential and parliamentary elections.

He outlined several instances of electoral corruption engaged in by major political parties in the West African country.

The governing National Democratic Congress, Senanu emphasized, tops the list of political parties engaged in voting buying, with the leading opposition party, the New Patriotic Party, following closely.

"Abuse of incumbency and electoral corruption erodes the legitimacy of government and political leadership. Politicians, candidates and the general public must therefore take the mater seriously and speak up against it as it undermines free and fair competition for political power and amounts to an affront to our democracy," he stated.

Ghana goes to the polls on December 7 this year to elect a president and a 275-member legislative body. Endit