Mayhem looms after elections

K.B. Asante

Ghanaians want free and fair elections. That is what it should be. All the political parties say they want peaceful elections. I believe them. But come the day after the elections and a Presidential Candidate wins by a few thousands votes and tensions will rise to boiling point. Why?

The Chairman of the Electoral Commission has told us that the voters register is "statistically incorrect." In plain language that means that there are many names on the register which should not be there. The Electoral Commissioner went on to say that with a population of 22 Million it is unbelievable to have 13 million people on the voters register.

And how come we have a bloated register? During the recent limited registration, it was estimated that one million people would register. In the event nearly two million people registered. It is feared that minors or children and foreigners registered. Also some assumed multiple identities to register. There is some evidence for these illegal registrations.

Knowing this, if a candidate loses by a few hundred votes, there would be a problem. If the Presidential Candidate loses by a few thousand votes, the result would be challenged on the streets and riots may follow.

No special knowledge is needed to come to this conclusion. We know ourselves. We know the history of election results even before independence. This time round there would not be much patience for election petitions to take their normal tortuous path in the courts. The stakes would be high. Emotions would be at a high pitch. Not much could be done then to cool down passions. The time to do something is now.

The Daily Graphic editorial of September 15, asks "So what do we do? What is the way forward?" It then suggests that "the ball is in the court of all of us." This is true but we need leadership. The Electoral Commissioner should come out with effective proposals to avoid the "recipe for chaos" which the Daily Graphic rightly foresees.

The Political parties should support such proposals in the national interest. We the people who would suffer mostly in any mayhem should demand a consensus to accept the results based on the electoral register presented at election time.

The revised register should certainly be cleaned. The Electoral Commissioner should suggest how this could be done in consultation with the political parties. We the people should demand that the necessary resources for implementation should be provided with urgency.

A possible way out is for the revised register to be exhibited so that objections may be raised against certain entries. Some or all of such entries may be removed with the consent of the political parties.

The political parties shoulder a great responsibility. Their leaders should lead. The stakes may be high for individuals who would wish to do anything to avoid living in the "wilderness" for the next four years. But the national interest must prevail. Few if any would want "power sharing" a la Kenya or Zimbabwe.

We want strong, proud, purposeful, effective leadership to move us forward away from unnecessary dependency and poverty. Let us vote for the leader and party with inspiring ideas and thoughtful plans. But above all let us accept whoever wins. The electoral register should not give us the excuse not so to do.

The matter is urgent and life-threatening. I should not delay action by writing at length about it. Immediate action should be taken to save ourselves from the chaotic strife which stares us in the face. Let us show the world that the African is matured.

Author: K.B. Asante
Source: Daily Graphic