body-container-line-1
27.08.2012 Opinion

TIME TO SAY ENOUGH OF ELECTION VIOLENCE IN GHANA

TIME TO SAY ENOUGH OF ELECTION VIOLENCE IN GHANA
27.08.2012 LISTEN

Many Election Observers argue that the blandness and predictability of established democracies is a sign of national maturity. It is, therefore, worth noting that democracy is a place where election is held at great cost without issues and with interchangeable candidates seeking just political power to steer the affairs of the nation's development. Ghana for the last two decades has fought hard to ensure that democratic elections are the required and preferred way for government representatives to access, maintain and give up political power. As a result, competitive elections in Ghana are no longer the exception; they have become the rule and the only means to select her political leaders.

Ghana, for that matter and since the inception of the 1992 4th Republican Constitution, has successfully conducted five presidential and parliamentary elections. These elections, generally, have been described by both domestic and international observers as free, fair, transparent, peaceful and credible. As a result, the Electoral Commission (EC) has won great respect globally for the good job done and that Ghana is now regarded as the beacon of democracy in Africa. However, despite these success chalked by Ghana, there have not been any election conducted without seeing pockets of clashes or conflicts taking place in the process among some of the contestants political parties notably between the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and National Democratic Congress (NDC). At least, it is still fresh in the minds of all Ghanaians what happened at Akwatia, Atiwa, Tain, Yendi, Bawku Central, Tamale Central and Odododiodio Constituencies just to mention few all between the NPP and NDC. No Ghanaian wants to hear and experience these conflicts again. But what again happened during this just-ended Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) exercise leaves a lot of Ghanaians to be worried and concerned about the impending election.

The big questions that the Centre for African Democratic Affairs (CADA) is asking; are we going to see once again these pockets of conflicts and clashes that keep on creating unnecessary tensions and fears in the country? Do we want to go the Cote D'Ivoire and Kenya way? It is becoming apparent that there are more questions than answers in respect to violence in elections in Ghana. As we approach the December 2012 election, civil society groups such as women, youths, traditional, religious, etc have started talking to Ghanaians about the need to have a peaceful election. But what do we understand by election violence as a nation? And what brings about these elections conflicts? How have we been able to resolve these conflicts over the years? What lessons have we, as a nation, drawn from them? Must we allow this to re-occur anytime we conduct election? Or is it time for us as a nation to iron out this once and for all? CADA is of a firm belief that these are some of the questions and worries agitating the minds of almost every Ghanaian as we approach the December 2012 election. For ensuring peaceful election, many civil society organizations (CSOs) in the country are embarking on a number of activities that promote peace in the country. For instance, the Pentecostal and Charismatic Council of Ghana, in collaboration with Star-Ghana and the office of the National Chief Imam recently organized a day peace rally at Bawku in the Upper East Region ahead of peaceful elections in Ghana. CADA will like to commend all these peace loving Ghanaians and groups who have taken it as a matter of urgency to ensure that the impending election is free from any violence. Inasmuch as CADA applauds all these activities as excellent and commendable, CADA will like to ask further that; are these programmes seeking to ensure violent free elections in Ghana enough and indeed bring peaceful elections?

Violence in election, as we all know, is an act or threats of coercion, intimidation or physical harm perpetrated to affect an electoral process or that arises in the context of electoral competition. When perpetrated to affect an electoral process, violence may be employed to influence the process of elections — such as efforts to delay, disrupt, or derail a poll — and to influence the outcomes: the determining of winners in competitive races for political office. Electoral conflict or violence can also be seen as any random or organised act or threat to intimidate, physically harm, blackmail or abuse a political stakeholder in seeking to determine, delay, or to otherwise influence an electoral process. These have become some of the tactics that political parties and politicians in general usually, employ to maximize votes and to brighten their chances of winning political power in Africa as a whole and not only in Ghana.

The political parties know very well that in any election winning and losing are things of reality and that our politicians must begin to educate and prepare their supporters on this reality so as to offset any negative event(s) that create unnecessary tensions and worry whenever the nation goes for elections. It is worth noting that the forthcoming election will produce, like any other election, only one winner out of all the contestants. Since there is going to be only one winner and several losers, whoever emerges as the winner should quickly show maturity and leadership and avoid statements that will be interpreted negatively by the losing candidates. The losers on their part must accept the outcome of the election as being the Ghanaians' choice, congratulate the winner and assure their supporters that there will be another opportunity next time. It is the nation's responsibility to ensure that the forthcoming election does not go the Ivorian or the Kenyan way. Ghana as a beacon for democracy in Africa can definitely conduct election without violence and that the nation must not be in chaos because of a candidate losing or wining this election.

Beside all the activities going on at the moment to ensure violent free election, CADA believe that, the most crucial aspect of all these is to explore all the possible potential causes of conflicts in the impending election and deal with them accordingly. This is because, no strategies and mechanism to solving conflicts will work without first mapping the causes of those conflicts to ascertain how those conflicts came about.

Once again, CADA, is of a firm belief that the possible causes of conflicts might be many but if the following are addressed properly by all peace loving Ghanaians, there is no reason why the forthcoming election in December should not be a violent free election; mistrust and suspicions among the political parties, lack of adequate knowledge of the electoral process particularly the political activists, weak State Institutions, sensational media reportage, the use of “machomen” by the politicians, the winner-takes-all culture in Ghanaian politics, lack of political will to apply the electoral laws on those who violate them, lack of or partial and biased condemnations of hate speeches by all peace loving Ghanaians particularly the civil society groups. As a nation, it's about time, we chronicle all the causes of election related violence and perceived elections rigging in Ghana since 1992 and take steps to implement its findings and recommendations to the letter. People who have been victims and/or perpetrators will surely come forward and give evidence and this can help us unearth some injustices that have been committed in the past and take steps to avoid them. If we keep sweeping them under the carpet in the name of peaceful atmosphere it would one day explode in the face of all of us and the consequences might be costly and unbearable no matter the number of peace rallies we undertake towards the election. The Electoral Commission on their part should also take steps to enter into discussions with all political parties and independent candidates with our unflinching support as a country and obtain written and enforceable guarantees from them on their commitment to ensure a clean and violence free polls in 2012 and beyond. Based on that, any candidate or party that seeks to promote rigging and violence should be punished.

Public education must be intensified on the confidence of the people in the tenets of democracy and institutions in Ghana. As one people with a common destiny, we need not to engage in any election violent acts just because we want our individual political parties to have power. Security Agencies particularly policemen and women who molest citizens without any provocation do so out of ignorance or illusion of knowledge. We should at all times remember that the greatest obstacle to discovery is not ignorance: it is the illusion of knowledge. Our voter educational system needs to be strengthened to eliminate illiteracy, dogmatism, ignorance and narrow mindedness. That is the only way we can ensure true democracy and development we want because the cream will always rise to the top using the right channels.

A widespread perception has been created over the years during elections like the forthcoming election that the Police has not been able to apply the law to a certain group of people involved in various breaches during election process. The just-ended biometric registration exercise has been cited as a typical example for concern. CADA calls on the Police Service to use the impending polls as an opportunity to redeem its image from whatever dent such an impression might have caused by acting professionally in the discharge of their duties and to deal even-handedly with any acts of lawlessness during the impending polls, irrespective of who the perpetrators may be. There are also significant non-technical obstacles to the conduct of good elections, mostly political. For example, both Kenya and Nigeria had fairly competent and well-qualified Election Management Bodies (EMBs), at least nominally in charge of their flawed elections. As many observers have noted, this depth of professional expertise did not prevent mischievous interference by political parties and the executive. Political parties, during their political campaigns engage in accusations and counter accusations as a semblance of the suspicion, mistrust and election violence that characterize elections in the country. However violent elections in Ghana may have been, there is enough evidence that Ghana has been a nation which has defied the odds in elections and has maintained a positive reputation and standard that her African contemporaries are struggling to match. It is this reputation as a stable, peaceful, violent-free democratic country that Ghanaians must be happy and be proud to protect in the 2012 elections. In achieving this, we should engage our political parties in debating the details of important, though hardly exciting, issues such as health care, trade and tariffs, and social security among others. An accurate voter registry is also an essential ingredient in free and fair elections. It is believed that only amateurs steal elections on Election Day. In other words controlling who is registered to vote can influence the outcome of the polls. Enfranchisement and, conversely, disenfranchisement are powerful weapons, something that politicians understand supremely well. There are many other prerequisites for credible and violence free elections including effective voter education, well trained poll workers, order and security, comprehensive monitoring and observations, accurate result tabulation and transmission, a well managed system for the resolution of disputes.

To avoid violence in the forthcoming election, politicians or political parties in the country must campaign using messages that contain the ideas of which the contestants want to share with the voters. Campaign messages must contain several talking points about policy issues that practically and reasonably seek to address the day-to-day problems confronting the nation citizens and not empty promises that can never be achieved.

Each of the parties must have a clear campaign message and tell Ghanaians why they want to be voted for. That is the political parties must talk more about their policies both domestic and foreign and take time to explain these policies to the ordinary Ghanaian. For example domestically it is extremely important that the parties let Ghanaians know what policies they have on these specific issues: internet access and telecommunication in rural areas; quality education for all Ghanaians; financing tertiary education; financing and providing quality healthcare for all Ghanaians; employment and skill training for the youth; water delivery in cities and villages; quality and affordable rural housing; and promoting industrialisation, research and development.

Other policy areas could be ensuring energy security for Ghanaian local businesses and fighting energy poverty in Ghana such as reducing Ghanaians' dependence on firewood, charcoal, kerosene and candles and increasing access to modern energy facilities. Other policies could also focus on ensuring that Ghanaians fully benefit from the proceeds of the oil, and other minerals in the country; providing irrigation, tractors and machinery for farmers and to ensuring that goods produced will not be left in the bush for lack of good roads. Voters may want to know what the parties' policies will be on addressing the problem of Kayayo and child streetism; providing efficient, reliable rail transport network as an alternative transportation system in the country; revamping Ghana urban road transportation system; fighting corruption and keeping Ghanaians safe at all time.

The campaign must move away from the shallow politics that addresses none of our major problems to substantive and critical issues such as how do we connect the south of the country to the north by fast rail networks so that we do not have all our goods and passengers move by unmaintained road thereby creating congestion and unnecessary fatal accidents. Thus the critical question political parties must be prepared to deal with and how as a nation we can come out from the economic quagmire, poverty and deprivation that we continue to find ourselves in and how do we solve our numerous problems. The question of what we must do and how we must do it must be central to all the campaign messages. In short, the focus of the campaign must be economic and political stability; peace and prosperity; unity and love; economic and social equality; national security; and protecting our national interest and not tribal and hate speeches as well as counter accusations.

Each of the parties must assemble their best election strategists to craft messages that will catch the attention of voters. The campaign strategist and managers must develop and come up with policies that Ghanaians can identify themselves with. The party that sells well will win at the end of the day. The parties must commit themselves to run clean, free and fair campaign devoid of any acrimony. These would help to avoid the mayhem and destruction that characterized the elections in Ivory Coast, Kenya, and Zimbabwe.

Language used by politicians and their agents must be civil, polite and full of respect and be devoid of the insults, tribal and ethnic rhetoric that has come to define the Ghanaian political landscape. Politicians must stop using abusive, inflammable language and avoid utterances that will not auger well for the wellbeing of the country. They must use constructive argument to criticize their opponent(s) without the usual insults and suggest alternative political solutions to the numerous problems confronting the nation. Ghanaians particularly, the opinion and traditional; religious as well as the political leaders must quickly condemn any irresponsible statement that will put the peace and stability of the country in danger and bring the nation into international ridicule and disrepute. Each of the political parties, NDC and NPP in particular, must educate their members on how to conduct themselves during the elections. The parties must exercise control over their supporters; suspend wayward members and distance themselves from anyone who will soil their reputation.

All political parties must have faith in the electoral system. The Electoral Commission, judging from their previous experience and performance in organizing elections, there can be no doubt that, Dr. Afari Gyan and his team members have what it takes to organise the elections. In the past the Commission has shown itself, generally, to be a credible institution that operates without favouritism. In fact throughout the country, the Commission has come to symbolise independence, transparency, accountability, fair play, honesty, integrity, openness, objectivity and strong leadership and is idolised by many institutions in Ghana, Africa and the world at large. This notwithstanding, it is important that the Commission continues to work hard to erode any misconception that it is favouring or might be favouring one political party against the others. All peace loving Ghanaians must continue to support the Commission to deliver a credible, free and fair election which will make all Ghanaians and Africans proud.

Every soul we lose and every property we destroy, just because of winning this election, will be a cost to our common identity as Ghanaians. Therefore, circumspection must be exercised by moderators of radio and television programmes. The Ghana Peace Council, the media, universities, National Union of Ghana Students, The Ghana Pentecostal and Charismatic Council, the Christian Council, Catholic Bishops' Conference, and other faith based groups, non-governmental organisations and the international community must play their role to ensure that Ghana once again go through another successful election without violence. Ghana is a constitutionally governed country and anyone who tries to disturb the peace of the land must be dealt with according to the laws of the land. Therefore the police and the judiciary must be allowed to work independently without pressure from any quarters.

Every prosperous nation is built with the sweat of all its citizens and politics is just one of the wheels by which a prosperous nation is built. But the politics must not be violent before we can build a prosperous nation. Indeed politics can be conducted without unnecessary violence, loss of life and destruction of properties. Ghana is our home and the only country we have and doing politics based on policies and not violence must be our primary aim and concern.

Motives for violence could be skewing the playing field, limiting political space, preventing candidates from running, weakening the opposition, or a desire to retain power and stay in office. This was especially the case after the strong showing of the opposition during the previous elections. Among the enabling conditions included the lack of checks on the political parties, the weak rule of law, partisan security forces and judiciary controlled by the incumbent, a permissive or disinterested international environment — or at least lack of scrutiny — and a weak or fearful civil society and media. The effects of the violence included undermining the credibility, quality and inclusiveness of elections; as a result, the opposition struggled to muster support, campaign or compete fairly. The violence also deepened distrust among parties. It has been observed by CADA that pockets of violence during the just-ended BVR tends to be less recognised but can still damage the integrity of elections and also increase the likelihood of violence later.

Elections represent an important dimension in the efforts towards democratic consolidation in any country. It must be stressed that, elections are not synonymous with democracy, but are a central component of a functioning democratic system. In discussions of election security and violence, it is relevant to consider the nature and underlying purpose of election violence. Elections are a contest for power, and are therefore inherently contentious; unless conducted fairly, they can and often lead to violence and CADA pray that Ghana avoid this at all cost irrespective of the intensity of the peace rallies we undertake. CADA believe that when electoral violence occurs under these circumstances, it is not a product of an electoral process but rather the breakdown of an electoral process. The challenge, therefore, is to ensure that elections are fair, credible, transparent, free and not just in a peaceful environment. In other words, it is the view of CADA that an electoral process is an alternative to violence as a means of achieving governance. However, when an electoral process is perceived as unfair, unresponsive or corrupt, its political legitimacy is compromised and stakeholders are motivated to go outside the established norms to achieve their political objectives. Electoral conflict and violence become tactics in political competition. CADA prays that it does not lead the country into conflict.

Frank Adarkwah-Yiadom
Executive Directo,
Centre for African Democratic Affairs, CADA

MODERNGHANAMODERNGHANA

body-container-line