Ayawaso East primary: Crusaders Against Corruption calls for parliamentary oversight of probe

Social activist group, Crusaders Against Corruption, has urged Parliament to exercise strict oversight over investigations into alleged vote buying during the NDC’s Ayawaso East parliamentary primary.

The pressure group, in a statement signed by its Chief Crusader, Emmanuel Wilson Jnr, said Parliament must ensure state institutions act decisively and without political favour in enforcing electoral laws.

The group condemned what it described as persistent acts of vote buying and voter inducement, warning that such practices pose a direct threat to Ghana’s democratic foundations.

It argued that inducement through cash, gifts, food items or promises of material benefit undermines the constitutional right of citizens to freely choose their leaders.

“These practices are unlawful, unethical, and fundamentally threaten the integrity of our democratic system,” the statement said, stressing that vote buying is criminalised under the 1992 Constitution, the Public Elections Regulations, 2020 (C.I. 127), and the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29).

Crusaders for Change rejected what it termed an ad-hoc response to electoral corruption, insisting that selective enforcement would only embolden offenders.

“We do not believe that ad-hoc approach and measures to this criminal act is the solution,” the group noted, calling instead for consistent and impartial application of the law.

Central to its demands was a call for parliamentary scrutiny of ongoing investigations. The group said the legislative arm “must exercise its oversight responsibility by ensuring that relevant state institutions are called immediately to act on the matter per the law.”

It also called on the Presidency to formally direct investigative bodies to act decisively, “irrespective of who or which political party is involved,” arguing that failure to do so risks eroding public confidence in the electoral process.

The statement further challenged the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) to account for its past actions. According to the group, the OSP “must give an immediate account to us citizens of how his office has applied these laws in the numerous alleged vote buying cases in all previous elections that he claims are being investigated.”

The call comes amid fresh investigations announced by the OSP on Sunday into alleged vote-buying in recent internal party elections. In a public notice issued on February 8, the OSP said it had commenced probes into the New Patriotic Party’s presidential primary held on January 31, 2026, and the National Democratic Congress’ parliamentary primary in Ayawaso East conducted on February 7, 2026.

The investigations, the OSP said, are examining allegations of vote buying, vote selling, and the sources of funding linked to the alleged corrupt practices.

The notice also disclosed that during the Ayawaso East NDC primary, one of the candidates, Mohammed Baba Jamal Ahmed, was accused of obstructing the work of investigators.