Open Letter to The IGP And CDS On the Security for the 2024 Elections

Dear IGP and CDS,

Good day Sir,

Sir, you are aware that Elections in general are characterized by physical and psychological violent conducts and elections in Africa hence in Ghana is a do or die matter hence the possibility of serious aggressive postures by some of the competitors in the upcoming Presidential and Parliamentary election cannot be ruled out.

So, the upcoming Presidential and Parliamentary elections have trigged various concerns among the citizenry due to the fact that elections in the past were characterized with ballot snatching, election violence, thus some associated with widespread disorders. These are unacceptable acts, surprisingly, this ugly act by the Ghanaian was even displayed in the Parliament of Ghana by persons regarded as Honorable in the Society during a voting process in Parliament. These situations speak volume of the state of affairs in Ghana.

So, it is expected that the National Security plan should therefore factor the possibility of widespread disorder which will require deployment of the Military at strategy points but away from the polling stations for swift support to the Ghana Police in internal security operations. This is very necessary due to the likelihood of the deployment of political thugs to areas regarded to be disadvantaged, so as to disturb the peaceful electoral process by the execution of all sorts of misconducts as well as unruly massing of supporters due to a dispute in the election process and or results.

Please, let me drive my point home on the likelihood of widespread disorders during the upcoming elections, by drawing your attention to a decree in the Holy Bible at Ecclesiastes 1.9 that ‘’What has happened before will happen again, or what has been done before will be done again’’. So, it is widely acclaimed that history repeats itself.

So, it is anticipated that you have considered the determination of the Ruling Party (the NPP) to break the eight by all means including juju and tricks and likewise the Flag bearer of the current biggest opposition Party namely the NDC who has ever occupied the highest office of the President of Ghana and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ghana and thus knows the accrual benefits for the position of a Head of State and he is contesting in election for three consecutive times. Furthermore, it is hoped that you have considered the usual issue of disputation of election results by the loser or losers in the past. So it should be feared that his Excellency Ex-President Mahama and his political party will not be happy to lose power in three consecutive elections.

So, is feared that if his Excellency Ex-President JD Mahama’s (HEJDM) main opponent namely his Excellency Vice President Dr Bawumia wins the Presidential slot in a free and fair election, HEJDM and his Party may react violently nationwide. Hmm this should be regarded as a likely act, since it was rumored that Ministerial appointments have been shared already due to the allegations by Pollsters and latter-day Prophets that the NDC and her Presidential Candidate are the winner of the elections. So, the NDC as usual of Opposition Parties in Africa or Ghana in particular may still dispute the results if they do not win the election especially in case of unsubstantiated allegation from the media especially social media which is associated with acts of buffoonery, so the possibility of mayhem cannot be ruled out since according to them (the NDC) they may not opt for a review of the election by the Judiciary this time. So, Good security architecture is recommended to give comfort to all.

We need to appreciate that power is sweet, so both the NPP and NDC Presidential Candidates and their Political Parties will surely apply various acts to take undue advantages. So we need not to joke or experiment with the security plan for the upcoming elections. It should not be fully based on the success of the by-elections in Kumawu and Assin North but experiences from other previous elections characterized with widespread disorders and how they were managed.

It must be noted that the stakes in the upcoming election is very high. So, the Police must be armed as a measure of show of force, and thus enables the Police to be able to at least issue warning shots as and when necessary to arrest ballot snatching effort or a disorder as depicted in the Parliament of Ghana. So, the Military must not be spectators but must be involved in the provision of security for the election.

Sir, it is heartwarming that per the press release from the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF), GAF will be on Standby for support role to the Police meaning GAF is ready to come to duty as soon as required. This tells that the Military is somehow involved in the security architecture. So, it would be irresponsible on the part of the CDS or the Army Commander for not moving troops to vantage points especially to station troops in Regions like Eastern, Region Western North etc without Military garrisons before the D-Day of the election (07 December 2024).

This therefore calls for the IGP and CDS to demo Transparency and Accountability in the security architecture for the election by informing the public on the possible Military deployment before the Election Day so as to be in good position to support the Police swiftly. This would make the public not to panic in event of movements of troops to vantage areas in order to facilitate an effective supportive role. Since, National Security (the total security elements of the state) must ensure zero tolerance for deviant actions or inaction tilted to give undue advantages to any Presidential and Parliamentary candidate.

Yes sir, Internal Security is the responsibility of the Ghana Police but it has been an area of serious Achilles heel and may necessitate the involvement of the Military in domestic security. This is very important since the role of the Military in National Security is not necessary restricted to defense of the country against external enemy or the protection of the country’s borders but to be prepared to give support to civil authorities hence the Civilian law enforcement Agencies to deal with violent crimes or widespread disorder or the violent enemy within the Country.

Sir, despite the very good work of the IGP, the Afrobarometer Round 10 survey recently conducted ranked the Ghana Police as one of the most corrupt institutions in Ghana hence there may be the likelihood of some of them compromising with the highest bidder to commit election frauds. Otherwise with the state of social media the possibility of wild allegations of some them involve in electoral frauds cannot be ruled out. There is also the issue of incumbency factor and likewise the issue of the mindset, attitude and bearing of most people who do not fear or regard the Police or fear the Military more than the Police. This is clearly exhibited in the Country with the Military made to provide security details for the Speaker of Parliament and the Chairperson of the EC. Hence, national interest must be paramount, so the need for the involvement of the Military in the election security composition cannot be overemphasized. It is recommended the troops should not be at the Polling Stations but must be within reach to provide swift support to the Ghana Police.

It has been said that the Military by it training and orientation are not fit for law enforcement and crowd control. Fortunately, the Military is noted as a much disciplined and well organized institution or a professional hierarchically driven institution where command and control is very effective. Coincidentally, Ghanaian solders are noted for good peacekeeping, so the use of the military for internal security in aid of Civil Authority should be regarded as internal Peacekeeping operations. It should be noted that soldiers normally act as ordered by their Commander and the Commander is ever ready or required to accept responsibility for an officially assigned duty to the subordinates under command, this may not be so in the Ghana Police.

Let me cite two examples to drive my point home that Soldiers normally obey clear orders, thus act as directed by the Command. In the 2000 Presidential Election, the then CDS, namely Lieutenant General Ben Akafia (my Godfather) issued very clear nationalistic operational orders for the Military personnel detailed to part of the election security taskforce. He made it very clear on what the Nation or the laws of Ghana or the Constitution of Ghana expected of them, especially to uphold National Laws/the 1992 Constitution of Ghana at all times.

So, History will tell that it was the very good work of the Military due to the clear and nationalistic (patriotic) Orders or Rules of Engagement with Ghana first ideology of the then CDS in 2000 that helped to enable a free, fair and credible Presidential Election that saw the Candidates of the main opposition Party, especially the then Presidential Candidate JA Kofour winning the election in 2000. For his excellent work for Ghana, General BK Akafia was allowed to stay at post as the CDS at the pleasure of the President and Commander-in-Chief of Armed Forces until retirement in March 2001 after four years as the CDS. The then very elated President bestowed on him the National Honour of Member of the Order of the Star of Ghana in 2001. President Kofour also appointed him as Ghana’s Ambassador to Egypt.

Furthermore in the 2008 election, whilst a staff of Bogoso Mine, I physically witnessed troops of 2BN Takoradi preventing the snatching of boxes of ballot papers at two polling stations in Bogoso which had helpless Policemen though with weapons for their security. The good work of the 2BN troops by obeying the orders of their command on their operations or Rules of Engagement made it possible for the Parliamentary Candidate of the then Opposition Party namely the NDC in the person of Hon Francis Adu Blay Koffie to win the Parliamentary seat as the elected MP for the Prestea Huni Valley Constituency with 41 percent of the vote casted whilst then Presidential Candidate Nana Addo had the highest vote of 45.99 percent followed by 45.83 percent by then President Candidate JA Mills. Thus a determinant of free and fair election is the need for a credible security of live and assets especially election material during and after the process of election.

Sir, Military personnel by the 1992 Constitution are first as citizens of Ghana hence must perform civic responsibilities and second as Military personnel with the traditional remit of defending the Country against external threat and as and when required assist the Police in Internal Security Duties. So the Military has a very important role to play in national interest hence cannot sit down when there is widespread disorder confronting the Country. So the deployment of Military personnel at vantage points especially Regions like Eastern, Western North etc is a must do Sir. Hence, the notion that the Military is not involved is erroneous, since the fact that the GAF is on Standby role or in Support role means GAF is involved in the election security architecture, so troop movement is expected. Unfortunately, due to this wrong mindset we did not monitor the Military personnel taking part in the special voting conducted on 02 December 2024. Let us pray that no request for support by the Police that may cause some of the troops to be disenfranchised in the upcoming election.

Sincerely Yours,

MAJOR MOHAMMED BOGOBIRI (RTD)