Renowned Journalist Kwesi Pratt Jnr. has questioned the legitimacy of elections in the West Africa subregion, suggesting that for two decades the will of the people has been subverted through dubious ways.
The Editor-in-chief of Insight Newspaper said during his appearance on the August 2, 2023 edition of Good Morning Ghana on Metro TV that a free and fair election is just a documented word and not one that is practiced in reality.
He maintains that the concept has, “collapsed a long time ago.”
Commenting on Defense Minister, Ambrose Dery’s statement that the Ghana Armed Forces is uninterested in staging a coup instead they will protect the will of the people and prevent election rigging, Mr. Pratt stated emphatically that there have been no free and fair elections in the past 20 years in any West African country and that the concept has rather, become a farce.
“How many countries in West Africa have over 20 years organized free and fair elections?” the ace journalist quizzed, adding that “Elections have become a farce. Everybody is talking about it. Go to the streets. Let your people take cameras to the street of Accra and asked them their opinion about elections. it’s a farce.”
Mr. Pratt further argued that during elections throughout West Africa, politicians indulge in vote buying, influence peddling, and the use of violence against unarmed civilians, as well as distributing cars and other tempting offers to voters, hence election cannot be termed “credible”.
By: Akua Karle Okyere | Metrotvonline.com | Ghana
