Vote-buying at the party level not a crime — OccupyGhana

Some delegates receiving TV sets during the Ayawaso East NDC primary

Pressure group Occupy Ghana has reiterated its position that intra-party vote-buying is not a criminal offence in Ghana and that there is a need to promulgate a law criminalizing the practice.

The group stressed that even though vote-buying in public elections is a crime, it is not a crime when done within a political party.

“The reality is that although vote-buying is a crime in public elections, it is not a crime in intra-party elections.

"OccupyGhana, as usual, called for it. We wrote to the relevant people who had the power to introduce just a small amendment into the law to fix this.

"As usual, the two parties ignored us. So the intra-party vote buying has escalated to the level where the perpetrators are not even embarrassed to admit it publicly. It is no crime,” Ace Anan Ankomah, a leading member of the group wrote.

His comments come on the back of allegations of massive vote-buying in the NDC parliamentary primary election in Ayawaso East Constituency recently.

Occupy Ghana had in 2023 written to the then Attorney-General and Parliament explaining that even though the Criminal Offences Act, 1960(Act 29) and the Representation of the People Act, 1992 both criminalise vote-buying, they are only limited to public elections.

-mynewsgh