Accra, Ghana//-Panellists have warned that the recent appointment of two politically exposed persons as commissioners of the Electoral Commission (EC) could negatively affect the credibility of Ghana’s 2024 elections.
The two-Dr Peter Appiahene and Hajia Salima Ahmed Tijani who were recently appointed to the electoral management body by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo are said to be dyed in the wool affiliates of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP).
The panellists at the Ghana Center for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana) roundtable discussion (RTD) on the 2022 and 2023 Kenyan and Nigerian elections respectively, said once citizens doubt the processes including the appointment of the commissioners of EC, it affects their acceptance of the results.
Contributing to the discussion via zoom, Madam Bernadette French, Director of Programs at Campaign for Good Governance (CGG) added that how those who man elections are appointed to the electoral management bodies in the region should be a serious concerned for all democracy-loving people in Ghana and across Africa.
She said: “We have observed that governments always appoint their people to the electoral management bodies” to tilt things in their favour.
Madam French who is also the Western Area Regional Coordinator, National Election Watch (NEW), Sierra Leone, emphasised that the core of the acceptability of the election results, is trust.
So, if citizens do not trust the managers of the electoral bodies, it could lead to chaos.
Findings from the Afrobarometer Round 6 survey in Ghana (https://www.afrobarometer.org/wp-content/uploads/migrated/files/media-briefing/ghana/gha_r6_presentation3_trust_corruption.pdf) revealed that many Ghanaians (59%) have “little” or “no” trust at all in the Electoral Commission (EC). So, with the recent appointment the public trust of the EC would have nothing to write home about, according to the panellists.
Low CSOs’ participation in the 2013 Nigeria elections
Madam French, who was an observer in the 2023 Nigerian elections, noted that civil society organisations (CSOs) in participation in elections were low.
According to her, most CSOs which monitored the election were concentrated in the nation’s capital city of Abuja, leaving the large and remote parts of Africa’s most populous country unmonitored.
Madam French therefore urged CSOs in Nigeria and the West African sub-region to follow every step of the electoral processes to ensure peaceful and transparent elections.
Lessons for Ghana
As Ghana goes to presidential and parliamentary elections in 2024, she urged the EC to make the citizens the frontline actors of the electoral processes to bring back the confidence in the electoral management body.
The Executive Director of IDEG, Dr. Emmanuel Akwetey observed that CSOs’ participation in the Nigerian and Kenyan elections was just limited to the election day activities.
This implies that the CSOs in the two countries mentioned above did not play any crucial role(s) in the electoral processes. Comparing this to that of Ghana, he said: “Our electoral system is different. The CSOs here are shaping the process of the election”.
Dr Akwetey, who observed the recent Nigerian election, added that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) put too much trust in the technology deployed to transmit the results of the election.
According to him, because of the confidence that INEC had on the technology, they did not have a backup plan for technology failure.
Dr Akwetey said while the House Representative and the Senator elections results were transmitted via technology deployed, the Presidential elections results could not. There was a general insecurity in the country before the elections which degenerated during and after the elections.
For what Ghana can learn from the Kenyan and Nigerian situation, he called for the enhancement of security and maintain vigilance during and after elections.
The Coordinator of Kenyan based Elections Observation Group (ELOG), Mulle Musau advised Ghana to abide by the country’s electoral laws to avoid confusion in the elections 2024.
He was quick to add: “The processes of the election need to be inclusive and transparent for all to see what is going on”.
Madam Cynthia Mbamalu, Director of Programs, Yiaga Africa, Nigeria appealed to the managers of the elections to clear all doubts leading to the general elections.
Presenting a paper on ‘Kenyan 2022 and Nigerian 2023 elections: Lessons for Ghana’, Director of Advocacy & Policy Engagement of CDD-Ghana, Dr Kojo Asante called for the timely conclusion of the legal reforms put forward by CODEO, EU, EC and NDC ahead of national elections.
He also called on all the stakeholders, especially the EC to inject more trust-building processes into the elections so that there won’t be any challenge when the results are announced.
Democratic backsliding
Dr Mohammmed Ibn Chambas, Head of the United Nations Office for West Africa, and the Sahel (UNOWAS), a United Nations political mission in Dakar, Senegal in a video message, said analysis indicated that Ghana is not immuned to democratic backsliding as witnessed in most African countries.
He lamented that Ghana and Mauritius, which used to rank higher in most election indexes in Africa, had deteriorated in most recent democracy rankings.
Dr Ibn Chambas added that the continuous failure to share the dividend of democracy had created delusions among the youth.
The Ghanaian diplomat noted: “Violence is an existential threat to democracy and elections in Ghana and across Africa” and therefore appealed to governments to put in place measures including laws to end electoral violence on the African continent.
Build broad consensus
Dr Ibn Chambas stressed the need to build broad consensus among all parties in the upcoming Ghanaian elections.
The Acting CO-Chair of Coalition of Domestic Election Observers (CODEO), Sheikh Armiyawo Shaibu said although elections are crucial, they must be avenues for violence.
Dr Edward Ampratwum who represented the UNDP Country Representative urged all parties in the upcoming elections to commit to dialogue and shun violence.
He stated that elections are not events but a process which must be understood by all.
Dr Ampratwum assured: “We will continue to support and strengthen Ghana’s democracy. We have seen election violence in several African countries. So, we want to support the consolidation of democracy in Ghana”.
In his welcome address, the Executive Director of CDD-Ghana, Prof Kwesi H. Prempeh whose NGO is celebrating its 25th anniversary, said: “We have invested substantial resources into election work since our establishment”.
