‘Ghana's elections difficult to rig unless victims of rigging go to sleep’ — Manasseh Azure

Investigative journalist Manasseh Azure Awuni has asserted that Ghana’s electoral system is highly transparent, making it difficult to manipulate election outcomes unless opposition parties fail to safeguard their votes.

In a social media post on Friday, December 6, he remarked, “Our electoral system is one of the most transparent processes in the world,” adding that although challenges exist, the structures in place significantly reduce the possibility of large-scale vote tampering.

Manasseh highlighted that rigging on a scale capable of overturning the people’s mandate would require either gross negligence by opposing parties or active collusion by their agents.

“If a party is not as careless as the NDC was in 2016 and 2020—unable to police and account for its votes—rigging without detection is almost impossible,” he stated.

Drawing from his experience as a polling assistant in 2004 and as a journalist covering subsequent elections, Manasseh noted that vigilance is key.

“If a party is vigilant and its agents don’t compromise, especially in their opponent’s stronghold, any such manipulation will be detected,” he said.

However, the ‘President Ghana Never Got’ author expressed doubts about the effectiveness of Ghana’s legal system in addressing blatant electoral malpractice.

“Whether glaring evidence of manipulation would be glaring enough in a court that ignored the glaring significance of the birth certificate in an election-related case is another matter,” Manasseh opined.