Election-related dispute can be resolved peacefully – National Peace Council to political parties

The National Peace Council has urged the two major political parties to use the electoral laws in resolving their differences in the ongoing voter’s registration exercise rather than resorting to violence.

Reports coming in since the start of the registration exercise indicates accusations between the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) over issues of busing non-Ghanaians to register in some constituencies, among others.

As a result, the Council has called for calm in the ongoing registration exercise.

“The National Peace Council strongly believes that any outstanding election-related dispute can be resolved peacefully either through the judicial process or by alternative dispute resolution mechanisms.

“The National Peace Council stands ready to offer its good offices in achieving a peaceful resolution of all such disputes and appeals to all citizens and contesting political parties to refrain from violence and divisive acts and utterances which threaten the peaceful conduct of elections and preservation of Ghana’s reputation as a stable democracy,” portions of a statement signed by the Council’s Chairman, Professor Emmanuel Asante said.

With regards to the compilation of the new voters’ register, the Council also commended the political parties for peacefully settling their differences.

“The National Peace Council notes with appreciation the conduct of the political parties in the recent disagreements around the electoral register and to congratulate all stakeholders for the confidence in our judicial processes and to encourage all citizens to continue to resort to non-violent ways to address their differences.”

However, the Council has called on Ghanaians and other stakeholders to “recommit themselves to peace in all their activities and utterances before, during and after the December general elections.”

EC unable to enforce COVID-19 protocols

The Council, among other things, has called for the enforcement of COVID-19 safety protocols following several concerns raised over the EC’s neglect for these safety protocols.

The call also comes in after the NDC warned that there could be far-reaching consequences if the Electoral Commission (EC) does not enforce COVID-19 safety protocols at centres in the ongoing mass voter registration exercise.

The party’s director of elections, Elvis Afriyie Ankrah who was speaking at the NDC’s press briefing on the voters’ registration said their observations indicate a violation of all COVID-19 safety protocols despite assurances by the EC to ensure compliance.

According to him, the chaos and the negligence shown in the social distancing rule are indications that the electoral management body has lost control over the situation.

CODEO’s observations

Additionally, a report released by the Coalition of Domestic Election Observers (CODEO) also confirmed the several concerns raised over the EC’s neglect for adhering to the COVID-19 safety protocols.

An aspect of the report further proposed that “the EC must intensify public awareness about the movement plan of registration teams to enhance public awareness and understanding about the mode of the registration exercise so that people do not continue to gather at registration centres when they do not have to do so”.