Ahead of the December 7 general election, the Ghana Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana) has called for fairness and equity in allocating and using state security resources (personnel) to all flagbearers.

Dr Kojo Pumpuni Asante, the Director of Programmes and Policy Engagement, CDD-Ghana, appealed to the National Election Security Task Force (NESTF) to engage all candidates and political parties to discuss the provision of security for flagbearers and their vice presidential candidates.

He further urged the NESTF to discuss ground rules on campaigning in the next two months before elections, stating that a similar arrangement was implemented in 2016 after the South African policemen incident.

Dr Asante appealed in his presentation at a roundtable meeting on election security for the 2024 general election.

It was organized by the Foundation for Security and Development in Africa (FOSDA) in collaboration with the CDD-Ghana under the auspices of the National Election Response Group (NERG) constituted by the National Peace Council (NPC) and the West Africa Network for Peacebuilding (WANEP) with funding support from the European Union (EU).

Touching on the military deployment during elections, Dr Asante said that given the genuine complaints from the public regarding the deployment of the army into communities during elections, particularly border areas, community entry engagement, and entry must be improved this time around.

He said the army role given to it for elections as the last resort should remain the same throughout the election process; adding that the police remain more suited for dealing with crowds at collation centers and should be deployed as such.

“If the army is to be used in such cases, then their Strategic Operations Procedures (SOPs) must be modified to minimize any casualties,” he said.

Dr. Asante noted that the Coalition for Domestic Elections Observers (CODEO) had also submitted proposals to the Electoral Commission (EC) to take a look at the set-up of its collation centers to reduce overcrowding and improve transparent access to information for citizens who want to witness what was happening in the room where the collation is taking place.

With regards to Post-Election Accountability and the Prosecution of Violent Offences from the 2020 Elections, Dr. Asante said it was still important to have an update on the progress of cases for the families and to continue to pursue accountability and justice.

Concerning Political Vigilantism and the Enforcement of the Anti-Vigilantism Act, the Director said the NESTF and other stakeholders including the National Peace Council (NPC), the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), the media, and the civil society organizations (CSOs) should include education on the provision of the Vigilantism Act in the election and civic education programs; declaring that in the past this had proven effective.

Dr. Asante reiterated that education must be accompanied by strict enforcement and prosecution under the law, where there was stiffer punishment and places responsibility on those who finance and organize vigilantes.

On the issue of Responding to Misinformation and Disinformation with Balance, Dr. Asante said there were many legitimate interventions for addressing false information, which does not involve the criminal justice system.

“In elections, several early warning systems including the application that the National Media Commission has put in place, the monitoring of the Media Foundation for West Africa, Fact-Checking and duty of Media host to correct statements and so on,” he said.

He added that another response group is the National Election Response Group.

Dr. Asante said the CODEO on Election Day works closely with all these groups to mitigate the incidence.

Mrs. Levinia Addae-Mensah, Executive Director, WANEP, reiterated the need to consolidate Ghana’s democratic gains and protect the relative peace that the nation had.
Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Victoria Yamoah, Director in charge Police Election Security Secretariat, said the NESTF was ready to provide security during the December 7 general election.

Professor Emmanuel Gyimah-Boadi, a Co-Founder of CDD-Ghana and Co-Founder of Afrobarometer, who chaired the occasion, said the least Ghanaians could do to prevent their December polls from adding to the West African carnage and democratic backsliding was to address the question of how to ensure fairness, equity, and balance in the deployment of national security resources, law enforcement, and justice administration.

Mrs. Theodora Williams Anti, Executive Director, FOSDA, in her welcome remarks, said the key objective of the roundtable meeting on election security was to enhance public trust in Ghana’s election security structures, particularly the election task force through information sharing and dialogue.