Vote Buying in Ghana? What is the Surprise?
Why has a whole nation turned in hypocrites - making a normal way of political life of vote buying seem so surprising?
Allegations of vote buying and inducements dominated public discourse following the NDC parliamentary primary in Ayawaso East in the Greater Accra Region on 7 February 2026. Reports indicated that some delegates were allegedly given items such as television sets, boiled eggs, cash, and other goods to influence their votes—an act widely condemned by Ghanaians as corrupt and unethical. Predictably, the issue took center stage in Ghana’s trending political issues.
In response, both the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) and the National Democratic Congress announced investigations into the matter. The President of the Republic, John Dramani Mahama, reportedly dismissed Baba Jamal, a contestant, from his position as Ambassador to Nigeria pending the outcome of these investigations.
Frankly, this entire episode is one of the most laughable and theatrical moments in Ghana’s political history—both at the party level and at the national level. The sudden moral outrage has exposed a hard truth: Ghanaians are pretending to be shocked by something that has been normalized for decades. The idea that vote buying is a new phenomenon in Ghana is not just dishonest; it is insulting to the intelligence of the people.
It is disheartening that practices we have tolerated for years are suddenly treated as aberrations simply because they have become politically inconvenient. This is how elections have been conducted in Ghana for as long as many of us can remember. Yet we act surprised—loudly, publicly, and selectively.
The hypocrisy of Ghana’s political leadership is especially troubling. Our leaders pretend not to understand what is happening in the country, even though they are often the architects and beneficiaries of the very system. If vote buying is indeed a crime—and I firmly believe it is—then why does even a newborn baby knows that almost every election in Ghana is influenced by money or inducements of some kind. Sometimes it is cash. Other times it comes disguised as “kindness”: promises of future jobs, contracts, appointments, or political favors.
At the level of general elections, this reality is even more obvious. I have voted countless times and I have consistently witnessed politicians distributing money, household items, and other goods simply to secure votes. In Ghana, if you do not pay—let me repeat—if you do not pay, you will not win. That is the system we have built and normalized.
Poverty, deliberately created and sustained by political leadership and societal complacency, has turned elections into survival opportunities for many voters. Delegates and ordinary citizens alike see elections as their one chance to extract something—anything—from a system that has otherwise failed them. That is why people only show interest when money is involved. Hopeson Adorye explained this reality clearly and unapologetically during an interview on Joy News and he is just being frank.
So is it not deeply hypocritical for President John Dramani Mahama to take action against current culprits when he, like many leaders in both the NDC and the NPP, has been complicit in these same practices throughout their political career?
Let me give one example. During the 2012 general elections, under the NDC government led by John Mahama, reports emerged of Kia Picanto vehicles being distributed to students—particularly female students—as a strategy to influence votes. This was widely covered by the media. I was a student at the University of Ghana at the time, and I personally witnessed aspects of this practice.
Over the years, I have closely followed Ghanaian politics. I have seen money, rice, machetes, cooking oil, solar lamps, and countless other items distributed to voters in cities and villages alike—all in the name of securing votes. These acts are not limited to one party. They were carried out by both the NPP and the NDC at every level of elections. Vote buying is not new in Ghana. It is routine.
What should concern us most is what this system produces. Political parties that spend obscene amounts of money to win power inevitably become corrupt once elected. They must recoup their “investment.” There is no free lunch. This explains why many of our leaders show little genuine concern for national development. Politics in Ghana has become a business venture, not a public service. That is why politicians are often wealthier than the business people who actually create value.
To the OSP, the NDC, and other groups suddenly calling for investigations: enough of the eye service. Stop wasting taxpayers’ money on performative exercises meant to score public approval when you know very well that nothing meaningful will come of them.
If Ghana were serious about ending vote buying, these acts would be classified as serious crimes punishable by mandatory jail terms at all levels. That is the only deterrent that works. But we all know why this will never happen: the same leaders who would be responsible for passing such laws are the same people who benefit from violating them. Are they not the same people who need to enforce it?
As I have said repeatedly, the so called democratic and political systems handed to us by your colonial masters were never designed to liberate or uplift you. They were designed to divide, weaken, and stall your development. This ongoing farce around vote buying is yet another reminder that western democratic system is failing us —just as it was designed to.