Ghanaians Wary of Violence as Election Approaches

With general elections scheduled for 7 December 2020, election-related violence has been rising. The climax so far was during the 31-day voter registration process when supporters of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) and opposition National Democratic Convention (NDC) clashed in several constituencies, leading to multiple fatalities. An official of the National Peace Council recently stated that 86 constituencies experienced violence around the 2016 elections, compared to just 47 in 2012. ACLED data suggests the frequency of politically-motivated violence spiked in 2016 and has remained high ever since. And popular attitudes in Ghana have grown more wary, with 43.3% of respondents in a 2018 Afrobarometer survey saying they feared becoming victims of political violence, up from 35.5% in 2014 write Michael Lieber Cobb and Erik Plänitz for African Arguments

Elections rally in Ghana (file photo).

InFocus

Follow AllAfrica

AllAfrica publishes around 500 reports a day from more than 100 news organizations and over 500 other institutions and individuals, representing a diversity of positions on every topic. We publish news and views ranging from vigorous opponents of governments to government publications and spokespersons. Publishers named above each report are responsible for their own content, which AllAfrica does not have the legal right to edit or correct.

Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica. To address comments or complaints, please Contact us.