Savannah Regional Minister calls for clear rules to distinguish generosity from vote-buying

Savannah Regional Minister Salisu Be-Awuribe has called for stronger public education to help tackle vote buying, saying an informed electorate must play a leading role in resisting attempts to influence voters with money. According to him, educating citizens about the value of their votes and encouraging them to challenge electoral inducements could help protect Ghana’s democratic process from the growing influence of money. Speaking to JoyNews at the ‘Democracy Is Not For Sale’ programme in Damongo, Mr Be-Awuribe said the public must not remain passive in the face of vote buying.

“When the public is well educated and they themselves rise up to the challenge, then we may be far from being in the situation that we are in,” he said on Sepetember 25. He said the responsibility for tackling vote buying should not rest solely with politicians and law enforcement agencies, stressing that citizens themselves have an important role to play in rejecting attempts to influence their electoral choices with money. Mr Be-Awuribe commended civil society organisations and media houses for bringing the issue to public attention and contributing to discussions on the impact of money on electoral processes.

Mr Be-Awuribe further called on citizens to reject attempts by individuals to influence electoral outcomes through financial inducements, stressing that the public must take an active role in confronting vote buying. “The public should revolt against them and know that their conscience cannot be bought,” he said. Mr Be-Awuribe maintained that sustained public education and citizen participation are crucial to safeguarding the integrity of Ghana’s electoral processes.

Savannah Regional Minister Salisu Be-Awuribe has called for clear guidelines to distinguish between vote-buying and genuine acts of generosity, saying Ghana must establish what constitutes an electoral offence. Speaking to JoyNews in Damongo, the Regional Minister, who also chairs the Savannah Regional Security Council, said he had heard allegations of vote-buying but had personally not witnessed the practice. “I’ve heard it, but I’ve not witnessed it,” he said.

Mr Be-Awuribe, however, acknowledged that Ghana’s electoral laws prohibit acts intended to influence voters. He referred to provisions under the Representation of the People’s Law, 1992 (PNDCL 284), which prohibit attempts to induce a person to vote, refrain from voting or influence another person’s electoral decision. We do the best of what we think we can.

But as to whether or not they are vote-buying is another aspect of it,” he said. The Minister was responding to concerns about the growing discussion around vote-buying in Ghanaian politics and whether financial or material support provided to voters could amount to electoral inducement. Mr Be-Awuribe said the difficulty was determining when an act of generosity or support becomes an attempt to influence a person’s electoral decision.