Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of Russian interference in the upcoming Ghanaian general election.

Foreign actors, including Russia, attempt to use information manipulation and interference to manipulate social discourse, skew national and international debates on subjects of critical importance, and try to undermine democratic institutions and national security. In Africa, Russia-linked media and influence organisations are using disinformation to garner support for Russian activity and discredit others.

We are working with our African partners to strengthen resilience to malign activity through strategic security and defence relationships alongside humanitarian, development and stabilisation programmes. The UK and Ghana are strong partners and we support the integrity of its elections and strength of its democracy. The UK's approach to supporting Ghana's resilience, including during its elections period, is focused on partnering with civil society, which has an essential role in ensuring a credible and transparent process. The UK's £5 million Ghana Governance Programme is working to support democracy and strong governance. This includes delivering communication and media relations training to counter and tackle mis/disinformation during the election.

During his visit to Ghana in September, Lord Collins met with the President and the two main Presidential candidates and welcomed Ghana's commitment to democracy, highlighting the importance of credible, transparent and inclusive elections.