Ghana’s political parties have the power to end delegate vote-buying but refuse to relinquish the advantage it gives those in power, constitutional rights advocate Oliver Barker-Vormawor has stated.
The Democracy Hub convener, speaking on Joy News’s Newsfile programme amid controversies over vote-buying in the Ayawaso East constituency, argued that parties could solve the problem by adopting strict disqualification measures against candidates who engage in the practice.
His comments come as the National Democratic Congress (NDC) grapples with widespread condemnation over its handling of the Ayawaso East parliamentary primary held on February 7, 2026.
Candidate Mohammed Baba Jamal Ahmed was captured on video distributing 32-inch television sets to delegates and giving boiled eggs to voters, sparking national outrage and investigations by the Office of the Special Prosecutor.
Despite acknowledging reports of widespread irregularities, the NDC upheld the results and cleared Baba Jamal to contest the March 3 by-election following the death of sitting MP Mahama Naser Toure on January 4.
“This is a problem that the political class can solve. They hold all the tools to solve it. They are the ones who constantly complain about the cost of where this is going. But inherent in that as well, they like the political advantage it gives them,” Barker-Vormawor said.
The constitutional lawyer explained that incumbency provides access to funding and financing that opposition candidates cannot match, creating an unfair advantage that those in power are reluctant to give up.
“Being in power means that it has access to funding and financing that other persons who are not in government cannot do. Because of that advantage, they don’t want to let it go,” he stated.
Barker-Vormawor emphasised that as a lawyer, he recognises the Supreme Court cannot compel Parliament to legislate on the matter due to the coequal nature of Ghana’s branches of government.
“The coequal nature of the branches of government means that that’s something the parliament must arrive at on its own. The executive must say what the most effective solution is in this way. But the parties themselves can resolve a solution,” he explained.
The Democracy Hub convener proposed a pragmatic approach that focuses on the supply side of vote-buying rather than the demand side.
“If the parties decided that there’s no way in which we can solve the demand end of the problem, which is people delegates demanding money, but we can deal with the supply end, which is that any candidate who gives a person, you will be disqualified. We will then turn the candidates into spies on themselves,” he suggested.
Under this mechanism, candidates would be incentivised to report their opponents’ vote-buying activities in order to get them disqualified, effectively creating a self-policing system within party primaries.
“They will then volunteer information on who has given what to get the other candidate disqualified. So, there’s a mechanism that the parties can devise to deal with this problem,” Barker-Vormawor explained.
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