E.C must be fair to all - Lessons from Gabon

"Beware the ides of March". These were the warnings given to Julius Caesar by the seer Spurinna about the calamity to befall him but Caesar turned a blind eye and ear to it.

Ghanaians will be going to polls in December next year. As usual, all serious political parties are preparing feverishly for that day.

The simple reason is to gain political power to rule.

The electoral commission being the mandated referee must be fair to all stakeholders to avert what happened in Gabon.

The Gabonese electoral commission declared li Bongo the incumbent president as the winner with some 64.27% of the total votes cast.

This infuriated the opposition parties who alleged fraud on the part of the election commission. To avert political tensions, the elite commander of Bongo's command, Aligui Nguima announced his overthrow.

Following the announcement, thousands of Gabonese throng the streets of Libreville in jubilation.

The junta immediately announced the dissolution of the electoral commission which was alleged to have manipulated the results.

Ali Bongo the ex-president together with the electoral commissioners has been arrested and placed under house arrest.

This is a clear warning to Ghana's electoral commission.

They must as much as possible try and be fair to all stakeholders. The case in which some minor political parties are called with inducements to follow certain patterns of support must cease as early as possible.

Any attempt to favour one political party can trigger violence in the country.

The consequences of that action can be disastrous.

Ghana is sitting on a time bomb ready to explode.

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