Ahead of the December 2024 elections, heightened mistrust in state institutions and unresolved tensions threaten to disrupt the polls.
On 7 December, Ghanaians will vote for a new president and 275 Members of Parliament. This will be the country's ninth consecutive election since returning to constitutional rule in 1992.
Ghana is renowned in West Africa for democracy and political stability partly because disputes over the results of two of these elections (2012 and 2020) were resolved through the law courts. Also, power has peacefully alternated between the country's two main political parties, the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), three times -- in 2001, 2009 and 2017.
However, the NDC says the NPP plans to rig the elections, and the two parties disagree on the neutrality of the Electoral Commission (EC) and the courts and security services. This could lead to violence and instability. Already, pre-election rhetoric is heating up, with both parties making divisive statements on campaign platforms.
This has always characterised Ghanaian elections, but the 2024 polls are being organised amid heightened suspicion stemming particularly from developments regarding the EC and the fallout from the 2020 ballots, whose results the NDC rejected.
The contest for the presidency is mainly between Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia of the NPP and former...
