No West African country has had a free and fair election for the past 20 years – Kwesi Pratt

Veteran Journalist Kwesi Pratt has stated that no country in the West African sub-region, including Ghana and Nigeria, has had a free and fair election in the past few decades.

According to him, the concept of free and fair elections, which is an integral part of any democracy, does not exist in West Africa because it “collapsed a long time ago”.

Pratt, who made these comments on Metro TV’s Good Morning Ghana programme on Wednesday, August 2, 2023, added that all elections that have been held in the sub-region in the past 20 years have, one way or the other, been rigged.

“How many countries in West Africa have over 20 years organized free and fair elections?” Pratt, who is the Editor-in-Chief of the Insight Newspaper quizzed.

He also said that all national elections in the sub-region have become a pretence of democratic elections.

“Elections have become a farce. Everybody is talking about it. Go to the streets. Take cameras to the street of Accra and asked people their opinion about elections. It’s a farce," Kwesi Pratt added.

He added that vote buying, influence peddling, the use of violence against unarmed civilians, as well as the distribution of cars and other tempting offers to voters, have become the order of the day.

This, he added, makes elections in West Africa not credible.

BAI/WA

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