The Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPC) will hold a day's colloquium on October 23 to critically consider the potential challenges and threats to peace and security before, during and after the December 7 elections.

The objectives of the colloquium are to identify the possible challenges to peaceful elections in Ghana; assess the likely challenges to peace and security before, during and after the elections; and determine ways in which multiple stakeholders can respond to and address those challenges in order to ensure peaceful elections.

The colloquium is themed: Preserving National Security in Elections 2012 and beyond. The German International Development Co-operation (GIZ) and other partners are supporting the KAIPC to organise the colloquium.

It will bring together the National Election Security Task Force which includes the military, police, Prisons Service, Fire Service and the Immigration Service. Representatives from the Electoral Commission (EC), political parties, civil society organisations, the academia and the media will also participate in the event.

According to a concept note issued by the KAIPC, the expected outcome of the colloquium is that the extensive discussions will lead to the development of proactive strategies that will inform policy decisions and enhance the collective efforts of all stakeholders to ensure violence-free elections. In addition, a communiqu? which will capture all policy outcomes from the colloquium will be adopted and released to the media for publication.

The colloquium comes against the background of the country's political landscape being currently characterised by a high level of mistrust and suspicion among the parties towards state institutions such as the EC, the Judiciary and the security agencies.

These institutions are often criticised by political parties for lack of objectivity and political bias. For instance, media comments on the supposed weakness and perceived inadequacies in the electoral system as well as administrative shortcomings in the recently held biometric voter registration and the level of mistrust among the various political parties has raised questions on the credibility of the electoral systems and state security apparatuses.

Moreover, it also contributed to the eruption of violence at some polling stations across the country. The questions that need answers by all are how the EC will ensure a credible and transparent behaviour to engender trust in the electoral process, the KAIPC noted in a statement.