Cape Coast Communique: Democracy Is Not For Sale

ISSUED BY THE DEMOCRACY NOT FOR SALE PROJECT (JOYNEWS IMPACT MAKERS FOUNDATION, IN PARTNERSHIP WITH ADOM BRANDS /MULTIMEDIA GROUP) CAPE COAST — FRIDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2026 This communiqué is issued following the Democracy Not for Sale dialogue held at the Centre for National Culture, Cape Coast, on Friday, October 30, 2026, at 4:00 PM. The event marked the sixth edition of the Democracy Not for Sale series overall, and the third hosted by the Adom brands: Adom TV, Asempa 94.7FM, Adom Online, and Nhyira 104.5FM, in partnership with the JoyNews Impact Makers Foundation. The programme combined a field survey of residents across Cape Coast with a stakeholder dialogue bringing together civic education, electoral administration, academia, local government, and party politics, to examine the influence of money on Ghana’s democratic processes and to chart a path toward cleaner, more issue-based elections. Survey Findings Fieldwork in Cape Coast recorded over 350 interactions, yielding 193 structured respondents, well above the ideal sample size of 150 calculated for the Central Region using a weight of 0.094 derived from the 2021 Population and Housing Census. The study forms part of a national target of 1,600 respondents across 10 regions, at a 95% confidence level with a margin of error of ±2.45%. Scale of field engagement in Cape Coast. Respondents were 53% male and 47% female, with an age profile skewed markedly young: half of all respondents (50%) were between 18 and 25 years old, reflecting Cape Coast’s large student population. Gender distribution of respondents. Age distribution of respondents. Awareness of Vote Buying 99% of respondents had some awareness of vote buying — 27.5% having personally witnessed a candidate offering money or gifts for votes, and 71.5% having heard reliable reports — with only 1% reporting no awareness at all. Awareness of candidates offering money or gifts for votes. Witnessed versus heard reports, by occupation. Money’s Influence — A Generational Reversal Cape Coast produced a striking reversal of the pattern seen elsewhere in the project: only 10.31% of 18–25-year-olds, half the entire sample — rated money’s influence on election outcomes as high, against 89.69% who rated it low. The share rating money’s influence as high rose with age, reaching 50% among both the 36–50 and 51+ cohorts. Perceived influence of money on election outcomes, by age group. Willingness to Vote on Ideas Over Money 91.7% of respondents said they would vote for a candidate with less money but better ideas — the highest such figure recorded under the project — and this commitment held consistently across every age group, from 85% among 26–35-year-olds to 92.86% among 36–50-year-olds. Willingness to vote for a candidate with less money but better ideas. Who Finances Political Campaigns 74% of respondents — the highest figure recorded under the project — identified government money or taxpayer funds as the primary hidden financier of political campaigns, followed by politicians’ personal savings (29%), wealthy businessmen (11%), and organised crime or illicit groups (8%). Perceived “hidden” financiers of political campaigns. Confidence in the Law Across every age group, the near-universal view was that Ghana’s laws exist but are not enforced — reaching 100% agreement among 36–50 year-olds. Confidence in the strength and enforcement of current laws, by age group. What Would Stop It Asked what would most effectively stop “democracy for sale,” 46% of respondents said nothing can be done — the largest single response, and the first time this view has outranked all others under the project — ahead of improving standard of living (37%) and strict jail time for vote-buyers and vote-sellers (29%). Perceived most effective way to stop “democracy for sale.” The Dialogue The panel for the Cape Coast dialogue comprised Mercy Essien (Regional Director, NCCE), Gloria Boahemaa Asante (Director, Electoral Commission, Cape Coast), Professor Jonathan Asante Otchere (Executive Director, African Institute of Strategic Studies, and Political Science Lecturer, University of Cape Coast), George Justice Acquah (Municipal Chief Executive, Cape Coast), and Takyi Mensah (Regional Secretary, New Patriotic Party). Mercy Essien defended the NCCE’s continuing constitutional mandate to explain and guide the public on civic responsibilities, while Gloria Boahemaa Asante stressed the Electoral Commission’s institutional commitment to fairness, ensuring neither party is unilaterally favoured. Professor Jonathan Asante Otchere offered the dialogue’s sharpest structural diagnosis: vote buying persists because both givers and receivers sustain it, worsened in his view by Ghana’s delegate system, under which far more resources are now shared to influence delegates than in the early 1990s. He named economic hardship, greed, and a weak regulatory framework as the three principal drivers, and argued that party sanctions against offending candidates remain too weak to deter the practice. George Justice Acquah, the Municipal Chief Executive, declared that “our conscience is not for sale, your rights are not for sale, but that is what we are seeing here in Ghana,” arguing the practice has spread into churches, community groups, and union leadership, and that responsibility is shared across society rather than resting with politicians alone. He called for clearer party policies, less politicisation of public discourse, and sustained education on patriotism. Takyi Mensah, speaking for the NPP, traced vote buying to a trust deficit: politicians who fail to deliver on promises prompt citizens to extract something tangible before they even gain power. He called on parties to show genuine resolve in disciplining members who engage in the practice. Recommendations Strengthen internal party discipline and sanctions against candidates and members who engage in vote buying, consistent with the dialogue’s call for parties to show genuine resolve rather than tolerance. Reform aspects of the delegate system identified as having measurably worsened vote buying at the primary and internal-party stage since the early 1990s. Build a stronger regulatory framework governing political campaign financing, with clearer rules on permissible contributions and spending. Sustain and expand NCCE and Electoral Commission civic education efforts, given that the Commission’s mandate remains central to public understanding of electoral integrity. Invest in addressing the economic hardship identified by panelists as a root driver of both the giving and taking of money for votes. Promote sustained public education on patriotism, shared civic responsibility, and the depoliticisation of everyday public discourse. Make political party policies and platforms clearer and more accessible to the electorate, to support the public’s strong stated preference for voting on ideas over money. Address the pronounced public fatalism recorded in this survey — the view that “nothing can be done” — through visible, sustained enforcement action that demonstrates the laws against vote buying can and will be applied. Conclusion The Cape Coast edition of Democracy Not for Sale surfaces a distinctive and, in places, encouraging profile: a youngest generation that is both the least convinced that money determines electoral outcomes and among the most committed to voting on ideas regardless of cost. Yet this sits alongside near-total awareness of vote buying, the strongest public attribution of political financing to government resources recorded anywhere in the project, and the most pronounced strand of public fatalism yet recorded, with a plurality concluding the practice cannot be stopped at all. The panel’s recommendations- stronger party discipline, delegate-system reform, sustained civic education, and visible enforcement, point toward addressing both halves of this gap: giving institutional substance to the public’s stated preference for ideas over money, while confronting directly the sense of resignation that currently coexists with it. The Democracy Not for Sale project will continue to track these dynamics as the dialogue series moves to further regions across Ghana. For more information on the Democracy Not for Sale project, contact the JoyNews Impact Makers Foundation