Dr. Bossman Asare, Deputy Chairman of the Electoral Commission in charge of Corporate Services, has cautioned against voting for the late Akua Donkor, who appears on the 2024 presidential elections ballot paper as the flagbearer of the Ghana Freedom Party (GFP).

According to him, the EC and all political parties have agreed to keep the late Akua Donkor on the ballot paper due to time constraints and cost factors regarding the elections.

Speaking during a forum organised by the Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition (GACC) in partnership with the Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII), the Ghana Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana), and with support from USAID through the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) on the effects of monetisation of elections in Ghana, under the theme “Monitoring Campaign, Abuse of Incumbency, and Vote Buying for Comprehensive Party and Campaign Financing Reform in Ghana,” in Accra on November 15, 2024, he added that voting for Akua Donkor will be counted as annulled.

“We discussed with the parties that the time is very short, and we have printed over 90% of the ballot papers. Considering the time, it is very short.

“You know we have our senior lawyers… and when you look at our constitution, I don’t think the presidential elections can be postponed. Our presidential elections, the way it is structured, the last day I think you can have the presidential and parliamentary elections is on December 7.

“So now, all of us, our role is to tell people that, although Madam Akua Donkor’s face is on the ballot paper, don’t vote for Madam Akua Donkor because when you vote, your ballot will not be counted; it will be annulled,” he said.

“So please, I know you love Madam Akua Donkor, but this is not the time to show the love. The time to show love is… there are twelve people vying for the presidency; identify one of them. So, the Commission will continue to do sensitisation that although she is there, she is not part of it... let me answer: what if Madam Akua Donkor wins… We don’t think she will win.”

Beauty Emefa Nartey, Executive Secretary for GACC, cautioned against accepting inducements and voting for political parties.

According to her, politicians have taken citizens for granted, and as a result, when it is time for elections, they tend to influence voters with inducements to sway their voting patterns.

“We can make Ghana better. In other countries that are doing better, it is the citizens who are making it possible. And I like what Dr. Bossman said, that we have to demand our democracy, and because we have failed to demand accountability, politicians have taken us for granted, and they will come to us with 5 cedis and 10 cedis.

“And the one that baffles me is Maggi and ‘Bentoa’, like how? Even if you want to sell yourself so low, must it be Maggi and Bentoa? I am not encouraging vote buying, so whatever money is being placed, it is not democracy.”

William Nyarko, the executive director of the Africa Centre for International Law and Accountability (ACILA), also cautioned against the monetisation of elections, providing statistics from a study in 2022 revealing that winning an election in Ghana as a president costs about $100 million.

The Director of Strategy, Evaluation, and Communication at the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP), Samuel Appiah Darko, also stressed the need for laws in the country to explicitly define corruption.

He explained that while acts like illegal mining, stealing, and tax evasion are all serious crimes, they are not, by default, classified as corruption.

“It is time in Ghana we call offences as they are. Galamsey is galamsey. If you engage in galamsey, it is an offence on its own. If you engage in stealing, stealing is an offence on its own. If you engage in money laundering, it is money laundering.

“If you engage in tax evasion, it is tax evasion. Until Ghana’s laws decide to now define corruption to include tax evasion and money laundering, then we cannot say that tax evasion and money laundering are corruption properly so-called,” he explained.

Samuel Appiah Darko further clarified that the mandate of the Office of the Special Prosecutor is limited to investigating corruption and corruption-related crimes. As such, issues like tax evasion and money laundering fall outside its jurisdiction unless these crimes are legally defined as corruption.

“That is why when the OSP was investigating some issue, we ended up saying you can’t investigate this matter. It falls under tax evasion and money laundering, and when we sent it to a sister organisation, people were angry; they did not understand why the OSP cannot investigate that, because the power given to the OSP limits the OSP to only corruption and corruption-related crimes. This does not include money laundering, which does not include tax evasion. So, it cannot go into those aspects,” he explained.

During an Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) meeting held on Tuesday, November 12, 2024, the Chairperson, Jean Mensa, explained that although Akua Donkor has passed away and Philip Appiah Kubi, the replacement flagbearer for the Ghana Freedom Party (GFP), has been disqualified due to errors and alleged irregularities discovered in his nomination documents, the Commission has chosen not to reorder the ballot positions to avoid delays and additional costs associated with reprinting.

“We are almost 90 percent complete with the printing of presidential ballots, and you are also aware that following the passing of Madam Akua Donkor, we requested the printing houses to cease printing until the law had taken its course.

“Now that the presidential candidate has been disqualified, the Commission wants to inform you that the positions will proceed on the current ballot as it is in the interest of time and to save this country millions of cedis,” she stated.

She further indicated that the Commission would embark on an extensive public awareness campaign to sensitise the public not to vote for Akua Donkor.

“We will proceed with the name and image of Madam Akua Donkor, and we believe that a lot of discussions and advertisements will go to prevent the citizenry from voting for her,” she stated.

On Tuesday, November 12, 2024, the Electoral Commission (EC) of Ghana disqualified Philip Appiah Kubi, the replacement flagbearer for the Ghana Freedom Party (GFP), due to errors and alleged irregularities discovered in his nomination documents.

Philip Appiah Kubi, popularly known as Roman Fada, was chosen to replace the initial flagbearer, Akua Donkor, who passed away recently.


Watch George Ayisi’s interview with Adam Bonaa on the recent unrest in Bawku below: