Organized Crime Groups pose threat to Ghana’s electoral integrity, says GII Executive Director
The study, which was conducted in all 16 regions of Ghana, also showed that it takes parliamentary candidates at least $693,000, the equivalent of GHS 4 million, to prosecute a parliamentary campaign.
Mary Addah, the Executive Director of the Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII), has cautioned against the negative influence of illegal campaign financing on Ghana’s democratic stability as the country approaches its 2024 elections.
Speaking during the NorvanReports and Economic Governance Platform X Space discussion on the topic, “Safeguarding Ghana’s Stability Against Serious Organised Crime Threats” in the run-up to the 2024 elections, Mrs Addah averred the infiltration of illicit funds in Ghana’s politics can potentially skew national policies to the benefit of certain vested interests.
She underscored the role of organized crime groups in subverting electoral processes through bribery of various stakeholders, including election officials.
Corruption, she further noted, remains a pervasive challenge across many nations, with illicit financial flows often being used to manipulate electoral outcomes to the detriment of democratic principles.
“When illegal money that is not supposed to enter our body politics does so, it goes to benefit those who provided the funds. They tend to control certain policies to their benefit,” she remarked.
“Corruption is a significant challenge in many countries with bribes paid to manipulate election results, Organized Crime groups influence elections by bribing groups and election officials,” she added.
Speaking further during the X Space, Mrs Addah called upon the Electoral Commission (EC) to mandate greater transparency from political parties regarding the origins of their funding.
She emphasized that while the GII has been proactive in advocating for robust frameworks to ensure transparency in campaign financing and uphold electoral integrity, decisive action from the Executive branch is imperative to translate these advocacy efforts into tangible reforms.
A study by the Ghana Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana) revealed that some individuals and groups fraud-funded political parties during the 2020 elections.
The report titled Rising Cost of Politics in Ghana Attracting Illicit Funding from Organised Crime, revealed that it costs $100 million to fund a presidential campaign in Ghana effectively.
The study, which was conducted in all 16 regions of Ghana, also showed that it takes parliamentary candidates at least $693,000, the equivalent of GHS 4 million, to prosecute a parliamentary campaign.
Source:norvanreports
