Well said, Mr. President

One of the major problems confronting Africa today is the inability of our leaders to conduct free and fair elections. Most of the leaders, for whatever reasons, are trying to perpetuate themselves in power no matter the results of their action. From Togo, through Nigeria, to Cameroon, Gabon and Congo Brazzaville, all the way to Egypt in the north and lately Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe, elections are always organized but it has never received massive international recognition and acceptance.
As we write this piece, Robert Mugabe is trying to use all electioneering tricks to once again perpetuate himself in power. It is therefore not surprising that the African continent has been plagued with so many conflicts resulting from elections that were not generally accepted by all stake holders. Fortunately for us in Ghana, we have not experienced some of these major election conflicts, but that should also not make us feel complacent.

Apart from the 1992 general elections, which the opposition perceived as having been rigged, all the stakeholders have largely accepted the rest of the elections. Ghana also had a smooth transfer of power from a democratically elected government to another government, without any resort to war or disturbances. Ghana's infant democracy has now become a model, which some African countries are trying to copy.

But this was not achieved on a silver platter. Our leaders and in fact all stakeholders have worked hard to bring Ghana this far. The Chronicle therefore welcomes as good news the vow by President Kufuor to ensure that Ghana once again organises a free and fair elections that would be accepted not only in Ghana but by the international community. Speaking at the commissioning of a school project in Central region recently, the President noted that the world would be looking at us therefore there was the need to maintain the standard the country has set for itself in terms of democracy.

Based on this he promised to personally ensure that all the electoral processes are executed. The Chronicle commends Mr. Kufuor for this pledge and hopes that as a democrat he would ensure their fulfilment. We however, think that the President alone cannot ensure incident free elections without the contributions of the various stakeholders, especially the political parties.

The Chronicle therefore calls on all the political parties to join hands with the President to ensure that the democratic standard we have set for ourselves is maintained or raised to another level. We also call on the Electoral Commission to play its role as a neutral body so that no political party would have the cause to challenge the outcome of the December elections.