The Commission said that the act of sharing food or money with voters at polling stations was “tantamount to corruption” and must not be tolerated.
Dr. Joseph Whittal, CHRAJ Commissioner said that such practices undermined the neutrality and integrity of the election process and urged security personnel to remain impartial and uphold the credibility of the polls.
The Commissioner’s comments came in response to social media footage from the Ayawaso West Wuogon Constituency in Accra, which showed security personnel accepting packed food during the Special Voting exercise on Monday, December 2.
Dr. Whittal condemned the behavior, describing it as “embarrassing.”
He made the remarks while addressing the media on the deployment of CHRAJ election observers for the upcoming 2024 general election.
The Commissioner said CHRAJ was closely monitoring the electoral process to ensure fairness and integrity, urging all stakeholders, particularly security personnel, to uphold ethical standards.
“When I looked at the video, it was more of an embarrassment, because security officers must be security conscious…
“How can you come to exercise your franchise, and somebody gives you food, which you don’t even know where the food is coming from, and you take it and you’re happy that it’s okay to take it…
“…What happens if you go to the field and other people come to share food to people in line…Are you sure you will be able to cause any arrest? Because you don’t see it as a problem…
“Particularly when you are being given the opportunity to exercise that franchise in order to go and secure the environment on [7th December] for all Ghanaians to exercise their franchise, and you’ve started it on a false note,” he stated.
The Commissioner, therefore, urged the security agencies to step up their game on matters of food distribution and other concerns at polling stations.
“When it comes to election issues, they [security agencies] need to be very careful and to include the distribution of money, food and other items, generally speaking, within the precincts of the police station…that is something they ought to go back to a drawing board and, next time, try to get it right,” he emphasised.
CHRAJ said it would deploy 300 staff to the 276 constituencies across the country on Election Day to monitor issues of rights violation and other specific indicators on its checklist and make recommendations after the Presidential and Parliamentary election.
Dr Whittal said the Commission did not deploy observers during the Special Voting exercise but would revise that in future elections.
“It is not right, in the legal terms, to share food, to share money, to anybody in a queue in preparation to vote, because it is tantamount to corruption and an integrity issue,” he noted.
GNA
