CDD-Ghana, stakeholders advocate for electoral reforms

The Centre for Democratic Development, Ghana (CDD-Ghana), and other stakeholders will continue to advocate and push for the necessary reforms in Ghana’s elections administration and security architecture in future.

Mr Francis Tsegah, a Diplomat and Senior Fellow at CDD-Ghana announced this at the first dissemination workshop on the project “Ghana’s Elections 2012: Promoting Peaceful, Credible and Issue-based Elections in the Ghana’s 2012 Presidential and Parliamentary Polls” in Sunyani.

It was to share findings of the project that seek to curtail elections-related violence in all electoral processes, and attended by stakeholders from the Upper West, Upper East, Northern, Brong-Ahafo and Ashanti Regions.

The second workshop for stakeholders in the Central and Western Regions will be held in Takoradi this month and the third in Koforidua for the Greater-Accra, Volta and Eastern Regions in September.

The project was rolled out ahead of Election 2012 as part of CODEO’s planned activities to ensure transparent, credible and peaceful elections during, before and after Election 2012.

Mr Tsegah said Election 2012, presented an important opportunity for the assessment of Ghana’s democracy, especially the functioning of her democratic institutions, and especially their ability to perform creditably under different administrations and ruling parties.

“The election also provided another opportunity to test the evolving security architecture in Ghana, and to demonstrate that Ghana and indeed Africa, can organize peaceful and credible elections, “he added.

Mr Tsegah, noted that reports from the CDD-Ghana and CODEO piloted a Conflict Monitoring and Peace Education programme in 25 constituencies identified as hot spots during Election 2008 revealed that elections-related violence were not time specific and could happen before, during and after elections.

“The reports also established a pattern that ‘there is a direct correlation between electoral violence and the Electoral Commission’s (EC) and political parties’ public activities. It follows that conflict/violence in the country increase with the increase of public activities by the EC and the political parties,” he added.

Mr Paul Nana Kwabena Aborampah Mensah, Programme Officer of CDD-Ghana, called for the review of the directive by the Ghana Police Service that all election-related violence cases are sent to the Attorney-General’s Department for advice and prosecution.

He said an objective of the project is for the Police to issue public statements on the electoral environment and also name perpetrators to shame them in public, adding “Naming and shaming can be a mechanism to curtail conflicts”.