In Ghana, 90.9% of respondents said they are ready to vote for ideas rather than money
In Koforidua, Ghana, participants in a regional dialogue on the impact of money on democratic processes presented survey results according to which 90.9% of respondents said they would choose a candidate with fewer financial resources but better ideas rather than a wealthier rival. At the same time, 19% of those surveyed believe that voter bribery cannot be stopped.
As MyJoyOnline reports, the dialogue under the Democracy Not for Sale project took place on August 28, 2026, at Ascension Hall in Koforidua. The research team conducted more than 300 interactions and 141 structured interviews in Koforidua. Respondents included 55% men and 45% women, while 53% of participants belonged to the 18–25 age group.
Awareness of vote buying
Some 24.5% of respondents reported that they had personally seen a candidate offer money or gifts in exchange for votes. Another 74.8% said they had heard credible reports of such cases. Thus, 99.3% of those surveyed had either encountered this practice directly or knew about it from reports.
The largest share of those who had personally seen such offers was recorded among informal-sector workers, at 39.66%. Among professionals, the figure was 33.33%, and among students, 11.27%. The overwhelming majority of respondents in every age group also believed that laws against vote buying exist in Ghana but are enforced insufficiently effectively.
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Proposals by dialogue participants
Panel participants, including representatives of municipal authorities, the National Commission for Civic Education, the Electoral Commission, and the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice, discussed the difficulty of distinguishing between the lawful ongoing work of officials in a constituency and pre-election incentives intended to influence voting.
Edward Gyamfi, Deputy Director of the Electoral Commission for the Eastern Region, said that political parties are required to submit campaign expenditure reports to the commission, but it lacks the authority to investigate discrepancies identified after an audit. George Adzowi, a representative of the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice, called the unwillingness of parties to such arrangements to report them the main obstacle to prosecuting bribery.
The recommendations following the meeting proposed granting the Electoral Commission or another properly resourced body a mandate to investigate discrepancies in party reports, making more active use of the whistleblower protection law, developing civic and ethical education in schools, and taking into account the economic hardships that prompt people to accept such incentives.
