The Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition (GACC) has advised the youth against engaging in electoral corruption as the act has negative implications for Ghana’s democracy.
Madam Beauty Emefa Narteh, the Executive Secretary for the GACC, giving the advice in commemoration of the African Union African Union (AU) Anti-Corruption Day celebration, told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) that to ensure the youth understand the full implication of electoral corruption, the coalition was committed to engaging them on the issue.
Madam Narteh stated that they were commemorating the 2024 AU Anti-Corruption Day in 33 districts across 14 regions, adding that with funding support from the Hewlett Foundation, they sought to align the celebration with the election 2024 voter education and awareness activities.
The AU Anti-Corruption Day is celebrated annually on July 11, with this year’s theme being ‘Effective Whistle-blowers Protection Mechanism: A Critical Tool in the Fight Against Corruption.’
She indicated that recognising the c
rucial role of youth in addressing graft, the GACC had committed to targeted anti-corruption youth empowerment activities nationwide for them to serve as advocates and champions of the fight against corruption.
‘We aim to empower first-time voters and minors in basic and second-cycle institutions on electoral corruption offences, whistle-blowing, and the importance of upholding Ghana’s electoral integrity,’ she noted.
She noted that the engagement with the youth commenced ahead of the corruption day with students at schools, including the Nkroful Agricultural Senior High School, Bedeku Technical Institute, Mfantseman Girls SHS, Sawla SHS, Axim Technical Institute and Nuri Islam Karaga, and others been interacted with on electoral corruption.
Madam Narteh noted that electoral corruption was an illegal interference with the electioneering process to manipulate the outcome of an election for political advantage, adding that it manifested in the misconduct done before, during and after elections.
Touching o
n the types of electoral corruption, she mentioned manipulation of rules or legal framework by distorting electoral laws to benefit one party or contestant in an election creating an uneven playing field for contestants.
Other forms of electoral corruption are manipulation of voters through the distortion of voters’ preferences using deceptive campaign tactics, use of state resources to support campaigns, as well as the manipulation of voting by using a variety of forms of electoral maladministration such as fraud to skew an election in favour of a contestant.
The GACC Executive Secretary noted that vote buying, vote selling under-age voting, electoral fraud, registration malpractices, and voting malpractices were some examples of electoral corruption that the youth engage in.
She reminded the youth that engaging in electoral corruption could attract sanctions, including imprisonment between five and 10 years.
She mentioned that some of the effects of electoral corruption were the subversion of the democr
atic will of the voters as wrong people were manipulated into office, erosion of trust and legitimacy of democratic institutions, and the decrease in the level of accountability and responsiveness to citizens.
Electoral corruption also leads to expensive elections as candidates are willing to do anything to win power by spending more money while corruption and electoral fraud lead to a ‘zero-sum’ perception of elections, which ultimately results in violence.
Madam Narteh further said officials who come to power through electoral fraud are more likely to engage in corruption to recoup lost money.
She called on citizens to take a bold stand against electoral corruption, by blowing the whistle, showing patriotism, staying active and informed and reporting all electoral-related corruption to the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP).
Source: Ghana News Agency
