Engage Youth To End Electoral Violence
Political parties have been called upon to positively engage young people as a way to end electoral violence.
In the view of a Commissioner of Ghana’s Electoral Commission, Mrs Pauline Dadzawa, a major contributing factor to youth violence during election periods in Africa was the unhealthy engagement that political parties take its youth through.
Opening a four-day conference being attended by youth leaders of ruling and main opposition parties from 16 countries of the West African sub region, she said even though young people below 35 years form over 60 per cent of Africa’s population, the various political parties had failed to assign a clear cut productive role for them in the core party structure.
The conference was on the theme; Youth Political Participation and Dialogue-Challenges and Prospects.
The event was organised by the International Institute for Democratic Assistance (IDEA), a pro democracy think thank with representation in 27 countries worldwide.
According to Mrs Dadzawa, the situation had made young people vulnerable to what she described as negative manipulation.
She said instead of parties actively building the capacities of its youth wing to make it possible for them to take up key roles when they assume the reins of political power, most of them have resorted to inciting the already agitated youth to fight.
She bemoaned the situation where youth leaders were at the forefront of most violent electioneering agitations when their energies could be channeled into productive ventures.
On a violent free polls come December, 2012, Mrs Dadzawa said the Electoral Commission had put in place all the necessary interventions to ensure it conducted the 2012 elections with the integrity it had ensured since 1992.
She said the EC had learnt valuable lessons from the just ended biometric voters’ registration exercise which recorded the names of over 12 million people.
According to her, the commission was going to use the lessons from the exercise to help make the December 7 elections free and fair.
The Regional Director for IDEA Africa, Ambassador Mustaq Moorad, said youth and gender representation did not feature prominently in the profile of major political parties in West Africa.
He said even though the issue of women representation in public work had improved generally in some regions of Africa, the progress had not been matched by an increase in influence of women and the promulgation of policy to back the developments that arose as a result of inclusive governance.
Mr Moorad said the youth dialogue conference was going to complement efforts by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to provide an opportunity for party youth leaders in the region to exchange ideas and experiences in promoting tolerance.
IDEA is currently collaborating with the commission to also form a Forum of West African Political Parties (FOWAPP), Mr Moraad disclosed.