More than 17 million eligible Ghanaians are expected to cast their ballots on Monday at 38,622 polling stations across the country to elect a president and 275 members of parliament and the majority of people have expressed confidence that the elections will be held peacefully.
While speaking to Xinhua news agency, John Osei Tutu Agyeman, a former broadcaster and media consultant, believes in the ability of the security services to ensure a peaceful atmosphere before, during and after the elections.
“We have had these same fears in the past, but the elections in 2012 and 2016 turned out to be peaceful and beautiful, and I believe the security services will rise to the occasion again to preserve the peace in the country,” Agyeman, also director of the Institute of Media Practice, a media think tank, told Xinhua.
Echoing similar sentiments was the Director of Kingdom Concept Consult Princess Sekyere-Bih, “we have been assured by the Ghana police service that we would have a very peaceful election, and we hope for a peaceful outcome.”
“Not only have they deployed more trained men, but this time, they have more resources to ensure peace,” said she.
Although there were clashes between party supporters during the voter registration in June and July, the 2020 election campaign has been largely peaceful as the COVID-19 pandemic limited outdoor activities.
“This gives us a foretaste of what might happen, so it must inform about the strategies which the police will put in place for peace during the election,” Aremeyaw Shaibu, chairman of the Ghana-based Coalition of Domestic Election Observers, told Xinhua.
Shaibu urged the security services to be at their professional best to ensure a peaceful atmosphere during and after the polls.
Although some were apprehensive due to some isolated events, the larger Ghanaian society was hopeful of a peaceful outcome for the elections, according to recent findings by the Center for Democratic Development-Ghana (CDD-Ghana).
“Stakeholders are important,” said Rhoda Osei-Afful, an expert at CDD, adding that the Electoral Commission (EC) “is at the helm of affairs as far as the election is concerned.”
“How they engage the electorate, the political parties and their electoral officials is going to be critical in ensuring peace,” Osei-Afful told Xinhua.
The Ghana police service has identified 4,098 areas where chaos is likely to erupt ahead of the elections and provided reports to the National Election Security Taskforce to guide its tactical arrangements and deployments across 16 regions.
Monday’s presidential election is the third time that incumbent President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and former President John Dramani Mahama will run for the presidency.
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