Kofi Agyepong And Mary Samini
20 August 2008
The fear of violence in the forthcoming elections is taking centre stage in many discussions regarding the polls. It is not exactly a death wish but a genuine fear that Election 2008 may not go as smoothly as the preceding ones of '92, 96, 2000 and 2004.
Religious leaders, traditional rulers, political leaders, other pillars of society and the media have since the beginning on 2008 been calling on the main players to make sure that Ghana does not erupt into violence before, during and after the polls in December.
The fears seem grounded especially when the NDC leader, ex-Flt. Lt. Rawlings served notice that the last elections were rigged and his party would not sit down for the NPP to rig the impending one. His party has since taken up the refrain and a mindset of fight-to-the-finish-do-or-die has crept in.
The just ended limited registration exercise witnessed instances of violence and disagreements between the NPP and NDC which could get totally out of hand on election day when passions are high.
Yesterday, the Electoral Commission (EC) was warned of election violence if the names of minors and other unqualified persons are not expunged from the register before the Election Day.
Presenting a report on the just ended voters' registration exercise, the co-chair of the Coalition of Domestic Election Observers (CODEO), Sheikh Arimiyawu Shiebu, said, "If the voters register becomes an issue of contention among political parties, the election results may be disputed, leading to violence."
The recent registration exercise, he said, had practical difficulties, and "it is instructive that nearly all stakeholders, including EC itself, agree that the exercise could have been better organized."
He expressed worry about the incidents that happened during the registration exercise and urged the EC to take steps, "as a matter of urgency", to adopt the practice of open registration or continuous registration instead of the present practice of periodic revision of the voters' register.
"This, in the future, will forestall the unpleasant episodes observed," he said. Sheikh Shiebu questioned the importance of the EC and other official civic education bodies attached to voter education for voter education appears to have become a perennial problem in Ghana's 4th Republic.
"CODEO reports in 2000 and 2004 had strongly recommended that both the NCCE and the EC must take voter/civic education seriously, especially during the election year, but these were apparently ignored," he said.
The outcome of the registration exercise, Sheikh Shiebu said, also raised critical questions regarding the accuracy of the projections the EC made for the exercise. He however lauded the professionalism with which most electoral officials administered the registration of voters. "CODEO commends the political parties for their mass mobilization of potential registrants and their commitment to and vigilance over the entire exercise," he said.
The EC, he said, did well for extending the period for persons with disability. The report recommended that those found guilty of underage or multiple registration be immediately prosecuted and punished to serve as a deterrent to others.
"The NCCE must collaborate with the EC to mount an intensive voter/ civic education campaign for the 2008 elections, particularly towards the forthcoming exhibition of the voters register and beyond."
The political parties, the report said, must continue to cooperate with the EC to help clean the voters register. This, it said, can be done by substantiating the challenges of irregular registration that may be brought before the district registration review committees.
The report also urged political parties to educate their members to adhere to the political parties' code of conduct, especially the clauses prohibiting undue interference in electoral activities and electoral violence.
According to CODEO, they deployed sixty (60) field observers to observe the registration exercise.
The FOs observed registration centers in 116 out of the 230 constituencies and filed 574 reports covering all the centers observed during the exercise
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