IRIN Focus on elections in Ghana

Amid concern that disputes over the outcome of the 7 December election in Ghana could shatter the peace the country has enjoyed over the past 13 years, analysts say much will depend on how politicians, the military and ordinary Ghanaians react to the results. “How are we going to prepare ourselves to deal with jubilation, to deal with victory, to deal with disappointments?” was the rhetorical question Emmanuel Aning, a member of the Institute of Economic Affairs in Accra, put to IRIN. Answering that question was the focus of a seminar which the Foundation for Security and Development in Africa (FOSAD) organised on Thursday in the Ghanaian capital. FOSAD is an Accra-based NGO of African scholars on the continent and abroad, of which Aning is also a member. Disputes could arise, one analyst said, because the presidential race will be tightly contested. The leading candidates are Vice President John Atta-Mills of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Kufuor of National Patriotic Party and Goosie Tanoh of the National Reform Party (NRP). The NDC’s charismatic leader, Jerry Rawlings, is ineligible for re-election since he has already served the two four-year presidential terms allowed by the 1992 constitution. “Rawlings’ departure will affect the NDP,” says political commentator Ben Ephson. It will signal the end of the charismatic voting that has characterised past elections, leaving the NDP to fight hard to retain its traditional rural stronghold, the commentator adds. “We’ll be very surprised if there’s a first round victory by anyone,” says Ephson, who accurately predicted Ghana’s last election. Should no candidate win over 50 percent of the ballot, a run-off has to be held within 14 days. The winner would then be decided by a simple majority. Also at stake in the 7 December elections are the 200 seats in Ghana’s parliament, 133 of which are controlled by the NDC. The ruling party is strongest in the Upper West, Upper East and Northern regions. It shares power in the Volta Region and the west-central region of Brong-Ahafo. The NPP holds Ashanti. The southwest, home region of Ghana’s first president, the late Kwame Nkrumah, is the fiefdom of the party he formed, the Convention People’s Party (CPP). So is the Western Region. Pre-electoral violence surfaced in the Berekum constituency, in Brong-Ahafo. Fights broke there between NDC and NPP supporters amid claims and counter claims that party thugs were hired to beat up opponents, Leslie Boafo, a research officer at the Institute for Economic Affairs, told IRIN. There were also incidents closer to the capital. Analysts say politicians, their supporters, the media and government all bear responsibility for upholding peace before, during and after the elections. The results are tabulated from polling stations in each constituency and provisional results are then available. Inherent in their release is the danger that supporters can act violently when updated figures contradict expectations raised earlier by partial results. Often, as in other countries, charges of cheating and electoral fraud follow. To avoid this, Ephson said, the media’s role must be to report accurately and explain frequently that provisional results are subject to final certification by the Electoral Commission. “The media must have accredited persons to phone in provisional results received by the constituency officer,” he says. The electronic media, hamstrung by tighter deadlines than in print, “must not use the airwaves to report accusations of graft because people can take to the streets”, Ephson said. “The media must stop unsubstantiated allegations. The media should not allow people’s sentiments to come in. It must differentiate between analysis and comment.” The Journalists Association has been working on an electoral code of ethics that will guide reporting of elections results. In addition, political party officials have been asked to advise their leaders and constituency officers to guard against making thoughtless comments on air. Although the run-up to the elections has been marked by isolated incidents of violence, the media was able to calm the situation by heightening public awareness of ways to resolve disputes without violence. Now, the media are going to be asked to do so again because, Ephson said, “the line between sanity and chaos is a very thin one.” The acceptance of elections depends on legitimacy, credibility, neutrality and the integrity of the mediator, Mike Oquaye, a researcher in post-conflict issues in West Africa told the 30 or so participants at the seminar. The Electoral Commission is that mediator but beyond that, he said, the judiciary must settle disagreements. However, he said, the government has put the military on alert to deal with any electoral crisis, thereby spreading public anxiety. “We must shift the emphasis of conflict management from the military to the judiciary,” Oquaye said. High Court Judge Kwame Afreh acknowledged that the judiciary had been slow in settling past electoral disputes. This, he said, had been due to rules of procedure that tied up the contestations in the courts. However he said, “judges now agree to settle contentions within seven days.” An aggrieved parliamentary candidate can file an election petition at the High Court within 21 days. Presidential candidates can appeal to the Supreme Court.