Dec 7 elections: CODEO observes vote-buying in Ashanti, Savannah and Western regions

The Coalition of Domestic Election Observers (CODEO) has released the second report from its observation of the pre-election environment in the country ahead of the December 7, 2024 presidential and parliamentary elections.

The report, which covers the period October 26 – November 8, 2024, is part of CODEO’s comprehensive observation of the up-coming elections.

Among the findings made by CODEO is vote-buying.

“Observers also noted instances of vote-buying, with 10% of reports received within the period indicating so. This involved people being given money or valuables to influence their vote. These incidents were observed in some constituencies in the Ashanti, Savannah and Western regions,” the report signed by National Coordinator, Albert Arhin revealed.

It listed other findings as follows:
? Observed improvement in voter education efforts by the Electoral Commission of Ghana.
? Continuous domination of the political campaign scene by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
? Differential focus on issues in the campaigns by the NPP and the NDC.
? A generally peaceful political climate in the observed constituencies.
? Instances of incumbency abuse including the use of state resources such as public vehicles and government-owned equipment for campaign purposes were noted.

“Observers noted instances of potential abuse of incumbency by incumbent candidates or appointees of the government. About 11% of observer reports noted the use of public (state or local) vehicles for campaigning on behalf of an incumbent candidate.

For instance, in the Tatale-Sanguli constituency in the Northern Region, the NPP Parliamentary candidates’ flyers were used to brand the government-led District Road Improvement Program (DRIP), which saw the distribution of earth-moving equipment to MMDAs for road improvement.

The campaign flyers of the Tatale Sanguli Member of Parliament and parliamentary candidate for the constituency were seen on the DRIP Program equipment (bulldozer), which was being used to maintain and expand roads
in the Sagban community,” the report reads in part.

According to the report “The findings presented here are based on weekly observation reports filed by 97 CODEO Long-Term Observers (LTOs) from 97 constituencies across all regions of the country. A total of 193 weekly reports filed by these observers during the reporting period were analyzed for this report.

Read full report by CODEO.

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