It seems history is about to repeat itself as fresh allegations of vote buying hang over the upcoming Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) elections scheduled for June 30, 2025.
Information reaching The Overseer suggests that one of the candidates, already tainted by similar accusations in the 2022 elections, has once again opened the money taps in a desperate bid to secure victory.
According to insiders, the candidate, whose name dominated headlines during the last GJA elections for allegedly bribing delegates, has resurfaced with an even bigger financial strategy.
Journalists from the Eastern, Ashanti, Bono, Western, Northern, and Central Regions are expected to receive one thousand cedis each, disguised as transport allowance, on election day.
Retired journalists are also said to be targeted with cash incentives ranging from three to five hundred cedis, while influential voices in the media space could reportedly pocket as much as two thousand cedis each.
A member of the candidate’s own campaign team, speaking to The Overseer on condition of anonymity, confessed to being astonished by the sheer amount of money being pumped into the campaign.
“I am part of the campaign and the kind of money I’ve seen… there’s no way he’s losing this election,” the source stated.
The situation feels like a replay of 2022 when the GJA election process was overshadowed by bribery allegations against Albert Kwabena Dwumfour.
Back then, a petition filed by Dotsey Koblah Aklorbortu, a GJA member from the Western Region, accused Dwumfour of handing out five hundred cedis to journalists after a meeting in Takoradi, allegedly with the backing of businessman Amoh Tobbin, Chairman of the Tobinco Group.
In videos that circulated after the meeting, Mr. Tobbin could be heard urging journalists to vote for Dwumfour, arguing that his victory would ultimately serve the interests of the media and, indirectly, his own businesses.
Though Dwumfour admitted that cash was distributed to journalists, he insisted it was purely for transportation, not as a bribe, a claim many within the media fraternity met with skepticism.
The GJA constitution, however, strictly prohibits candidates from offering cash or incentives to influence votes, warning that violators face disqualification and a ban from contesting in the next two general elections.
With the clock ticking towards election day, concerns are mounting over whether this year’s contest will once again be reduced to a cash-for-votes affair.
Many journalists are questioning if the association, already battling accusations of political and corporate capture, can afford another leadership tainted by allegations of electoral misconduct.
