20 November 2008
editorial
Political parties, the Electoral Commission (EC), security agencies and others, this week signed a declaration in Accra to ensure that next month's polls would begin and end peacefully.
This comes just two weeks to Election Day and captures the mood of the country, which has been in high anxiety ever since the NDC declared that the EC was colluding with the ruling party to rig the elections..
We do welcome these initiatives, but we also feel that they do not go far enough. The assumption so far has been that if there is going to be any violence it would necessarily start from polling stations. Yes, it may, but we believe that violence could and would take place far from polling booths.
This is because in the communities, political opponents have targeted one another and would most likely vent their emotions - win or lose - when the results start arriving. During Election '92, it was observed that when the results gave the NDC the lead, supporters of the party in many communities formed themselves into gangs, ostensibly celebrating their victory and started tearing down NPP billboards.
That is the kind of thing together with the taunting and intimidation that follows which could spark off communal violence that would then spread. It is legitimate to celebrate a victory, but if the celebration "offends", there could be retaliation.
What we must do in these remaining two weeks is to mount a vigorous campaign against such acts and also spread the security agencies into the communities to plug any acts of indiscipline that would erupt as the results start flowing in and people start celebrating or grieving in the communities...
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