Students in the country’s tertiary institutions have been urged to reject vote-buying, intimidation, insults, and misinformation during campus elections.

The Central Regional Director of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), Mercy Essien, who made the call, cautioned aspiring leaders and students against allowing campus politics to be characterised by unhealthy rivalry, manipulation, and unethical conduct.

According to her, student elections at the university should serve as a practical training ground for democratic governance, accountability, and responsible leadership rather than becoming platforms for personal attacks and corruption.

Ms. Essien was speaking at a forum organised by the NCCE under the “Civic Engagements on the Rule of Law and the Fight Against Corruption” initiative, under the Participation, Accountability, and Integrity for a Resilient Democracy (PAIReD) programme implemented with support from the European Union, GIZ, and the Ministry of Finance.

Issue-based elections

Ms. Essien stressed that campaigns ahead of the upcoming Students’ Representative Council (SRC), Graduate Students’ Association of Ghana (GRASAG), National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS), and Junior Common Room Committee (JCRC) elections should be issue-based and driven by ideas that seek the welfare of students.

“Elections should not be characterised by insults, misinformation, intimidation, vote-buying, manipulation, or unhealthy rivalry,” she said, urging students to instead embrace maturity, tolerance, fairness, and discipline throughout the electoral period.

Ms. Essien noted that the campus elections remained a training ground for future national leaders, stressing that the values students embraced today would shape the country’s democratic future.

Guided leadership

She observed that societies flourished when leadership was guided by honesty, accountability, transparency, and respect for the rule of law but declined when corruption, abuse of office, and influence peddling became normalised.

The students at the forum

She warned that one of the greatest threats to national development was not corruption alone, but silence and indifference that allowed wrongdoing to thrive.

Ms. Essien said true leadership was not about titles, popularity, or influence but rather responsibility, sacrifice, and service to others.

Honest campaign

For his part, the Legal Officer at the Central Regional office of the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice, Kweku Simpson, raised concerns over corruption and influence peddling, describing corruption as a major obstacle to national development.

He cautioned student leaders against abusing political or social connections to influence decisions unfairly, especially as many student leaders eventually transitioned into national politics.

The Public Relations Officer of the Central Regional Command of the Ghana Police Service, Chief Inspector Isaac Evans Ettie, also advised students to avoid situations that could create conflicts of interest.

Civic Club

The event also witnessed the inauguration of executives for the UCC chapter of the NCCE Civic Education Club.

Sandra Awolousor was sworn in as president, with Mohammed Alhassan serving as Vice-President. Dugratey Quame Clara Korkor assumed the role of General Secretary, while Frimpong Samuel was named Projects and Programmes Coordinator.