Commonwealth Lauds Conduct Of Ghana Presidential Election
The Commonwealth Observer Group for the Ghanaian presidential and Parliamentary elections has commended the processes, saying that the polls were conducted in a peaceful atmosphere.
The group in an Interim Statement by Justice Emmanuel Ugirashebuja, President of the East Africa Court of Justice (Rtd) Chair of the Commonwealth Observer Group, lauded Ghanaians and other stakeholders for conducting themselves with decorum.
The Electoral Commission on Wednesday declared incumbent president, Nana Akufo-Addo winner of the polls, defeating his arch-rival and former president, John Dramani Mahaman.
The Commonwealth group said although there were slight challenges it, however, noted that the Presidential and Parliamentary elections were generally peaceful.
“On 7 December 2020, Ghanaians reaffirmed their commitment to our shared values of democracy by exercising their right to vote in the eighth elections since the reintroduction of multi-party system in 1992.”
The Commonwealth observation group advised aggrieved persons to follow due process in resolving their grievances.
“If there are any grievances, they must be pursued through due process, and the use of all available dispute resolution mechanisms.”
“The voting process was conducted in a largely peaceful and orderly manner. The Commonwealth Observer Group commends the People of Ghana, the institutions involved, the polling staff and all other electoral stakeholders for the commitment to conducting a successful election and for the tolerance exhibited by all stakeholders on Election Day. We are honoured to have been given this opportunity to observe and support Ghana’s democracy.
“Our Group was constituted by the Secretary-General of the Commonwealth, The Rt Hon Patricia Scotland QC, following an invitation from the Electoral Commission of Ghana to observe these elections. We arrived on 4 December and will depart Ghana on 10 December.
The Commonwealth group, however, lamented the deployment of social media to spread fake and misleading information.
“The use of misinformation and disinformation through social media platforms is increasingly becoming a potential weapon against democracy. Ghana’s pre-election period experienced ample social media interactions. We conducted a topline analysis within the Twitter micro-blogging platform.
“From our data, both candidates have employed the use of strategic social media campaign mechanisms. However, in some instances social media was driven by a number of robots (bot accounts). The use of bots has been heavily criticized in a number of countries. Encouragingly, we noticed Civil Society fact-checking initiatives and efforts to mitigate disinformation.
“We encourage stakeholders to investigate these trends and data further. It may also be important to consider putting in place key parameters and guidelines for the use of social media during and after campaign/election time. Parties may need to be more vigilant and discourage their followers/campaigners to fall into manipulation techniques, unrestricted used of bots and the spread of fake news as well as the use of unverified accounts.
“On election day, members of the Group deployed in different regions met with local police, polling officials and returning officers, voters and political party agents.
The Commonwealth Observer Group would like to commend the staff of the Electoral Commission of Ghana, polling officials and other institutions who worked tirelessly to ensure that electoral materials and equipment were in place in readiness for the election day.
“On Election Day, the majority of polling stations opened on time and they were equipped with requisite polling staff and materials. The procedures for the opening of the polls were generally followed. We were impressed by the professionalism, confidence, and enthusiasm of polling officials. Issues that were observed, such as delays or missing materials, were usually resolved efficiently.
The group added that Police presence at polling stations was generally visible, non-threatening and impartial.
“In most polling stations party agents were present, and they performed their duties unhindered. Voting happened outside in the open and polling booths and electoral materials were at times disturbed by wind. We encourage the Electoral Commission of Ghana to consider acquiring suitable tents or placing voting booths in suitable enclosures away from the elements.
“We observed that voting proceeded steadily and that by lunchtime, there were no long queues in most polling stations. We commend the Electoral Commission of Ghana for the measures it has introduced to reduce the number of voters at polling centres. On the whole, biometric verification proceeded well with a few minor difficulties which, in the instances observed, were quickly resolved.
“The Group observed that the increase of multiple streams in polling stations led to some confusion about where voters were to vote from due to the absence of adequate signage at the polling stations. Additionally, the positioning of the voting booths in polling stations could compromise the secrecy of the ballot. We urge the Electoral Commission of Ghana to increase signage at polling stations and put in place measures that ensure the secrecy of the ballot.
“The Group observed COVID-19 Ambassadors at all polling stations. The Group observed that, by and large, voters’ temperature was checked and voters were required to wash and/or sanitise their hands before voting. While most voters complied with the insistence on the wearing of masks, social distancing was not consistently observed in the queues.
“Although the elderly, unwell or disabled voters were provided facilities to sit or vote quickly, we observed that pregnant women or mothers with infants were not accorded similar facilities.
” Closing procedures were transparent, with presiding officers and polling officials predominantly conducting the process in a careful manner and in accordance with prescribed procedures. Where they were requested to do so by party agents, presiding officers conducted recounts and the results announced at polling centres were generally agreed to by all party agents.
“All the polling stations visited were outside and the counting of votes continued after dark. The Group observed that there was a lack of adequate lighting in all the polling stations visited and polling officials had to improvise by using cellular phone torches and vehicle headlamps. We urge the Electoral Commission of Ghana to provide requisite lighting materials to polling stations in future elections.
“The day after the elections, our Observers met with some stakeholders to receive their feedback on the process and to follow up on the ongoing result transmission stage. Preliminarily, stakeholders reported no major incidences in the collation of results. We however note the Electoral Commission’s delay to announcing results in line with their intended timeline, and encourage them to continue providing citizens with updated and transparent timelines for the declaration of results.
“We encourage all Ghanaians, especially political parties, candidates and supporters, to remain patient and peaceful, while the Electoral Commission of Ghana concludes the processing of results. President Akufo-Addo and Former President Mahama reassured the Commonwealth that they would foster peace and the respect for the rule of law. I note that this commitment entails the resolution of grievances through the established legal channels.
“We wish to commend and congratulate all the voters for turning out in significant numbers on election day to exercise their democratic franchise. We also commend the Electoral Commission and polling staff, the political parties, civil society, the media and the security forces for their respective roles in ensuring the success of the electoral process thus far.
“It is our hope and expectation that while the results process reaches its crucial finalisation phase, Ghana’s tradition of peaceful electoral processes will continue to be preserved and safeguarded.”
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