National Communications Director of Convention People's Party Osei Kofi Acquah has cautioned against what he describes as a growing tendency to label every form of support given to party members and delegates as corruption, arguing that facilitation for party work must not be confused with vote buying or inducement.

Speaking on Joy Prime on Monday, February 9, Mr. Acquah insisted that political party work in Ghana is largely voluntary and does not come with salaries or formal allowances.

According to him, when party officials or delegates are called upon to suspend their personal activities to perform party duties, it is only fair that they are resourced to enable them to work effectively.

“Political players do not draw salaries or allowances. Party work is voluntary. So, when you call someone to leave whatever they are doing and perform a party duty, it is only fair that you retool or facilitate that person,” he stated.

However, Mr Acquah drew a sharp line between facilitation and inducement, stressing that the nature of what is given must directly relate to the task being performed.

“If I give you money for transport, food, or Uber so you can perform a task within a given time frame, that is facilitation. But if I give you motorbikes, cars, or a 32-inch Galaxy TV, that is a clear case of inducement,” he argued.

Questioning the relevance of certain items often cited in allegations of vote buying, he asked:

“What has a 32-inch Galaxy television got to do with party operations? Can you sit on it, drive it, eat it, or use it to do the work? Anything that does not facilitate the operation becomes an investment, and that is where the problem is.”

Mr Acquah also dismissed claims that aspirants openly admit to sharing money to buy votes, noting that facilitating delegates does not necessarily influence their voting decisions.

He shared a personal experience to support his argument.

“I once provided a van for people to travel to their voting centre because they said they didn’t have transport. Guess what? I got zero votes. They still voted for their preferred candidate. That tells you that facilitation does not automatically translate into buying votes.”

He further noted that transporting party supporters from Accra to other regions during elections has been a long-standing practice across political parties and should not suddenly be criminalised.

“Since 2004, parties have been busing people across the country to vote. If we now say that all of that is corruption, then we are all guilty,” he said.

Calling on academics and political commentators to be more nuanced, Mr Acquah urged them to help shape clearer standards for political conduct.

“We should not throw the baby away with the bathwater. Let’s look at the nature of the item given and its correlation to the task being performed. That is how we move forward,” he added.