Ghana’s Ambassador to the United States, Victor Emmanuel Smith, has strongly condemned the alleged distribution of televisions, motorbikes, and cash to voters during recent political activities in the Ayawaso East constituency, describing such acts as corruption at the very foundation of the democratic process.

In a statement, the Ambassador warned that corruption in national life does not begin after elections or upon assumption of public office but is often planted during political campaigns, when inducements are used to influence voter choice.

According to him, the exchange of money, food, gifts, or favours for votes must not be mistaken for generosity or kindness, but recognised as deliberate investments made with expectations of future returns.

He cautioned that once individuals who engage in vote-buying gain public office, governance risks becoming transactional. Rather than focusing on service, leadership turns into a mission of recovery, recovering campaign costs, rewarding financiers, and securing personal benefit ahead of the next election cycle. In such circumstances, he noted, the public purse becomes a reimbursement account for private political spending.

Ambassador Smith stressed that vote-buying does not only distort elections but actively manufactures corruption after elections, producing leadership that is compromised from the outset.

He further argued that Ghana deceives itself when it focuses anti-corruption efforts solely on government contracts and procurement while tolerating inducements at the ballot box, warning that a corrupted mandate inevitably results in corrupted governance.

Calling for firm action, he said what occurred at Ayawaso East must never be allowed to happen again and urged law enforcement agencies to treat open inducement of voters as corruption in the electoral process, deserving of swift and appropriate sanctions.

“What happened at Ayawaso East must never be allowed to happen again. Openly giving TVs and Motor Cycles and money by aspirants or their agents to voters should be seen as corruption in the process and law enforcement officers must take appropriate action” he stated