Pressure group Occupy Ghana has renewed its position that vote buying in internal party elections remains legal under current Ghanaian law, calling again for legislative action to criminalize the practice.
The group emphasized that although vote buying constitutes a criminal offence in public elections, existing legislation does not cover conduct within political parties. According to Ace Anan Ankomah, a leading member of the organization, perpetrators of intra-party vote buying can admit their actions publicly without legal consequence.
“The reality is that although vote buying is a crime in public elections, it is not a crime in intra-party elections. Occupy Ghana, as usual, called for it. We wrote to the relevant people who had the power to introduce just a small amendment into the law to fix this. As usual, the two parties ignored us. So the intra-party vote buying has escalated to the level where the perpetrators are not even embarrassed to admit it publicly. It is no crime,” Ankomah stated.
The comments follow allegations of widespread vote buying during the National Democratic Congress (NDC) parliamentary primary in the Ayawaso East Constituency held on Saturday, February 7, 2026.
In October 2023, Occupy Ghana wrote to the Attorney General and parliamentary leadership requesting amendments to the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29) and the Representation of the People Act, 1992 (PNDCL 284), which currently only criminalize electoral offences in public elections. The group argued these laws do not extend to party primaries and internal party elections as defined under Article 49 of the Constitution.
The organization noted that persons convicted of electoral offences can face fines, imprisonment, and disqualification from voting, but warned these provisions only apply to public elections, possibly explaining the absence of prosecutions for intra-party violations.
Occupy Ghana’s letter proposed extending current election offence laws to cover party primaries and removing the requirement for the Attorney General’s approval before prosecutions can commence. The group warned that failure by parliamentary leaders and the Attorney General to sponsor such a bill would provide grounds for suspicion that the government and major political parties actively support or are complicit in perpetuating electoral malpractices.
The renewed discussion emerges as the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) has launched investigations into alleged vote buying during both the New Patriotic Party (NPP) presidential primaries on January 31, 2026, and the NDC parliamentary primaries in Ayawaso East. The OSP stated its investigations focus on allegations of vote buying, vote selling, and the sources of funding for the alleged corrupt acts.
However, legal experts note that while the OSP can investigate corruption-related offences, the absence of specific legislation criminalizing intra-party vote buying creates potential enforcement challenges.
