We Cannot Nurture Peace By Standing Aloof

Election is not about war. It is all about nationals expressing their views on which group of political activists are best suited to manage affairs of state.

In Europe and other advanced societies, elections are very civil events. In Great Britain and the United States of America, for instance, there are no elaborate institutions solely in charge of conducting elections, like the Electoral Commission in Ghana, for instance.

Yet, elections are conducted without any rancour and bitterness. Unfortunately, in many parts of Africa, elections are conducted under clouds of suspicion, which could erupt to open warfare at the least provocation.

In Cote D'Ivoire, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Kenya, election-related issues led to civil conflicts in which many nationals were needlessly slaughtered.

Ghana has escaped conflicts generated from election-related issues, merely because of the tolerance level of its political leaders.

Unfortunately, the prognosis is not that very good for peace, as we inch closer to the next poll. It stems from suspicion that the central referee, the Electoral Commission, might not be fair in its dealings with all political parties and that, by the conduct of its chairperson and other officials, the Electoral Commission may be in bed with the ruling National Democratic Congress.

The two appear to speak with the same voice, while on paper the commission is supposed to be independent.

It is two and a half years now when the Supreme Court, the highest court in the land, pronounced that the voters' register was bloated and cannot be relied upon to give a free and fair verdict at the polls.

The court directed that the Electoral Commission should take measures to clean up the register. With barely five months to the polls, not much has been done about the bogus register.

On May 5, this year, the Supreme Court ordered the Electoral Commission to delete the names of all those who registered with National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) cards as a form of identity, from the voters register.

The court in its wisdom directed the EC to offer such people a window of opportunity to re-register.

It was a clear unambiguous directive. Strangely, the EC issued a statement suggesting that, the commission's decision was not clear to Mrs. Charlotte Osei and her charges at the Electoral Commission.

Typical of Ghanaians, those who should put pressure on the EC to do the right thing and ensure peaceful elections are rather looking elsewhere, while the commission gradually sows the seed for civil conflict.

It is in this vein that, The Chronicle welcomes the communiqué issued jointly by the Christian Council of Ghana and the Ghana Charismatic Council at the week-end, calling on the Electoral Commission to implement the Supreme Court's directive and delete the names of people who registered with NHIS cards.

In its ruling, the Supreme Court established that any person living in Ghana, and not necessarily only Ghanaians, could come by NHIS cards. In other words, ownership of an NHIS card is no proof of Ghanaian identity.

As a matter of fact, issuance of the card has been so abused for political purposes that there are many non-Ghanaians within and without the borders of this country who are proud holders of NHIS cards.

We do not shy from stating that giving NHIS cards away to non-Ghanaians was a direct policy of some leading members of the governing party, to influence the vote.

The Chronicle would like to state without equivocation that the dragging of feet by the Electoral Commission on the Supreme Court directive does not stem from the failure of the leadership of the commission to understand the import of the court ruling.

In our considered view,  that it is a deliberate ploy to buy time and spring the idea at the last minute, that with the election so close, it would be impossible to delete the names of all NHIS card holders on the voters' register.

That is one reason why we welcome the statement from the clergy. We believe pressure on the EC is necessary to get the commission to do the right thing.

On that score, The Chronicle would like to invite all other stakeholders in the November vote, to speak up.

We are disappointed with the National Peace Council and its leadership as a result of the organization's failure to stand and be counted up when it matters most. We cannot stand aloof and expect peace. Peace, we would like to believe, is nurtured.