2020 election violence: Ghana has lost its bragging rights as a beacon of democracy - Ibn Chambas

The immediate past Head of the United Nations Office for West Africa and the Sahel (UNOWAS), Dr. Mohammed Ibn Chambas, has bemoaned what he describes as Ghana losing out on its much-touted beacon of democracy in Africa accolade following the violence that characterized the 2020 general elections.

According to the former diplomat, what used to be a bragging right for the country on the continent has been tainted by the deaths that were recorded in the recent general elections.

He added that, particularly for him who would usually reference Ghana’s peaceful political situation in many of the examples he makes in his interactions in other parts of Africa, the mere fact that the 2020 general elections recorded even one death shoots all those bragging rights in the foot.

Dr. Mohammed Ibn Chambas made this known at the opening session of a three-day High-Level Post-Election Stakeholders Review Workshop on the 2020 Presidential and Parliamentary Elections in Ghana, organized by the Coalition of Domestic Election Observers (CODEO).

He stated that the examples of the usual culprits of election-related violence like Guinea and Cote d’Ivoire seem to have caught up with Ghana and there is every reason to be concerned.

“The 7th December general elections was major another test to Ghana’s democratic process and Ghanaians despite numerous challenges, in a very tense atmosphere, once again demonstrated their political maturity and love for country by ensuring maturity and a largely peaceful conclusion to the process and avoiding a post electoral crisis.

“I should add here that indeed in some of our neighboring countries, we did witness crisis prior to the elections, during the elections and post elections including, for instance, in Guinea and neighboring Cote d’Ivoire we had unacceptably large numbers of election-related violence.

“And it is in that regard that we should also be concerned that perhaps in that regard, we lost one of our bragging rights. I [personally] used to say, when I’m talking in context where things are tense, that ‘look, I come from a country where when we have elections, yes we have our differences and you have the tensions associated with elections everywhere but there are never any deaths as a result of these elections and if they occur, they are accidents perhaps from people going to or from political events,’ but I think this time, our image has been tainted in that regard. And it should be of concern to us: one person’s life is one person’s life too many,” he explained.

Dr. Mohammed Ibn Chambas delivered the keynote address at the ongoing workshop which has brought together relevant election stakeholders including state institutions, civil society organizations, media practitioners, political parties, and development partners.

The workshop will, among other things, deliberate on critical issues relating to electoral integrity in Ghana and take stock of valuable lessons from the conduct of the recently-held elections, drive the agenda towards electoral reforms, and enhance future elections.