Need for Peace: To Our Next General Elections

On 7th December 2020, Ghana will hold its seventh general elections in the Fourth Republic to elect a President and Members of Parliament for the next four years of national administrative life.

The national atmosphere is tensed. All over the country, political campaigns are heightened, taking on various shapes and colours; local and international observers are ready to observe; new and experienced electorates are prepared to express their preference on the ballot paper.

More than these, the campaign for peace before, during, and after the elections is on－a cause supported by virtually all citizens; along with pacific echoes from the international community. Prayers are being said, people are marching for peace, relevant videos and songs and posters are rife, just for peace to prevail.

Since the Fourth Republic began, Ghanaians have experienced relatively peaceful elections and transition of power in sub-Saharan Africa. Yet, this year’s election race presents another test of peaceful endurance.

When peace is grossly violated

Peace in a social sense is normally used to denote a lack of conflict (such as war) and freedom from fear of violence between individuals or groups. Harun Hadžić has said that peace is what every normal person dreams of, implying that people naturally desire peace within themselves and in their surrounding.

Undoubtedly when peace is violated, such as in war or related conflict, the consequences are highly destructive.

Mortal intra-state conflicts and violence springing mainly from socio-political, ethnic and religious causes, while not underestimating international influence, have in the past years and in varying intensities left deep scars on the face of post-colonial Africa; and still doing so in some parts of the continent, in Somalia for example.

The Rwandan genocide, the First and Second Liberian Civil Wars, civil wars in Djibouti, Republic of the Congo, Guinea-Bissau, South Sudan, etc., were some of the armed conflicts that occurred in Africa in the last few decades.

The consequences were devastating: hundreds of thousands of lives were lost in mostly gruesome ways, valuable properties were ruined, many citizens were displaced internally; economic stagnation and recession were taut, untold hardship and hunger were inflicted on countless souls; human rights were grossly disrespected.

On election-related violence in particular, the 2010 electoral dispute in Côte d'Ivoire in which the incumbent president refused to accept defeat escalated into a brief civil war that reportedly killed about 3000 people and internally displaced more than a million others; a result of the deadly clash between government and opposition forces.

Apparently, the root causes of these conflicts lie in power hunger, sheer intolerance, perceived inequality and discrimination, tribal bigotry, and socio-political disunity.

Ghana is not ready

Ghana is a relatively peaceful country in the region and many others look up to this widely recognised model of democracy in Africa.

A busy day in major centres of the country especially in pre-Covid 19 era Accra unfolds the hustle and bustle of the city: market folk going about their businesses, street children walking about, school children taking classes, banks and other institutions in operation, tourists enjoying their visits－everyday Ghanaian life.

Clearly, we cannot afford, through election-related violence that has the potential to step up into full-blown conflict, destabilise our beloved country and bring ruin to our environment

We want to always hear the soothing sound of ocean waves at our beaches and not the deafening crack of gunshots, to hear the voice of school children singing the national anthem at parade and not the blast of bombs, the euphony of music on our radio and TV stations and not the slashing noise of machetes.

We want to see our children complete free SHS and possibly free tertiary education to become influential doctors and teachers and engineers and not to see them lying dead on the streets or fleeing for refuge in another man’s land.

There is thus the need for peace before, during, and after the elections; and the onus lies on us all as citizens to seek this peace and pursue it.

Together As One

Ensuring a peaceful and transparent election is the primary responsibility of the people of Ghana, especially those directly involved in the elections: the election management body, security, political parties, electorates.

We thus call on the Electoral Commission of Ghana to be purely guided by their motto: Transparency, Fairness and Integrity to conduct, as mandated, general elections that are indeed credible, free, fair and transparent.

We call on the National Election Security Task Force to be impartial and masterly as they handle election security matters.

We call on political party leaders to bid their rank and file to civil obedience.

We call on party representatives at the polling centres to observe all relevant electoral protocols.

We call on all citizens to be vigilant and pursue peaceful paths in this volatile period.

We call on whoever will not come out first to accept the result in good faith (or needfully seek legal redress), and whoever will be first to be discreet in their victory celebration .

In various peace campaign messages we are being urged to: avoid needless arguments, political thuggery and intimidation, rigging procedures, hate speech; promote tolerance, observe electoral protocols and, generally, put Ghana first.

For our common good

Peace, especially in the social sense, is a precious commodity we must jealously guard. It is critical to a happy and prosperous nation.

From the lyrics of a popular peace campaign song, ‘We have one Ghana, and our banner must be Peace, Justice and Love.’ Let us do this to fulfill national righteousness. God bless our homeland Ghana and make our nation great and strong.

-Bright Rockson, Fellow Ghanaian