Professor Henry Kwasi Prempeh
The Center for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana) has sounded a warning bell about the integrity of Ghana’s electoral process.
Professor Henry Kwasi Prempeh, Executive Director of CDD-Ghana, expressed concerns that smaller political parties may be acting as proxies for the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and National Democratic Congress (NDC).
This revelation comes after the Electoral Commission (EC) approved 13 candidates for the upcoming 2024 presidential election.
Professor Prempeh’s comments were made during a lecture commemorating the late legal luminary Anthony Akoto Ampaw.
He questioned the EC’s vetting process, suggesting that it was not rigorous enough.
“We operate a duopolistic political system… and dissatisfied voters can switch between parties, but ours being duopolistic, it means that the choice is, practically speaking, there are 13 or so people on the ballot,” he stated.
The Proxy Problem
Prempeh argued that many smaller parties are effectively acting as proxies for the NPP and NDC.
This, he believes, undermines the integrity of the electoral process. “It is basically because they are proxies of one of these two political parties to influence decision-making at the Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC),” he explained.
The CDD-Ghana is also advocating for a more diligent and scrupulous vetting process.
Prempeh believes that this would reduce the number of candidates on the ballot. “If the Electoral Commission was more diligent and scrupulous, there would be fewer candidates”, he said.
-BY Daniel Bampoe