Ghana's Electoral Commission In The Eye Of Storm Ahead Of Critical 2024 Election
The Electoral Commission has faced heavy scrutiny ahead of the election because of repeated lapses described as unprecedented
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For a number of observers, the red flags with the Jean Mensa-led Electoral Commission started emerging during the 2020 election.
Aside from the glaring issues related to the military presence in the election and the disenfranchising of voters in the Guan district, people were left befuddled by the commission's basic summation errors.
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In the years that have followed, the commission has been embroiled in more lapses and controversy that have fed into opposition claims that it may be working to rig the election in favour of the incumbent New Patriotic Party and its presidential candidate, Mahamudu Bawumia. This even led to a massive protest by the National Democratic Congress, calling for an audit of the voter register.
Reports of ballot shortfalls, serial number discrepancies, and issues in processing media accreditation have marred the commission’s preparations in the weeks leading up to the election.
Ewald Garr, a governance analyst with Development International, agreed that these lapses from the commission are unprecedented.
“The norm is that the EC should be on top of its activities. We should see more competence," Garr said to YEN.com.gh. “If you have a situation where almost every day, the EC comes out to admit there is a mistake, there is cause to raise questions, and you begin to realise that people’s confidence in the EC begins to fall.”
However, Garr argued further that these mistakes should not be used to tar and feather the EC.
"If these are genuine mistakes and the EC is correcting them, then we should support the EC to correct the mistakes that they have identified in the ongoing process... If we criticise them unfairly, we have a situation were people would not disclosed mistakes.”
Red flags from special voting
The commission’s handling of the special voting inspired little confidence that it could adequately manage the voting process and stamp out political interference.
The Coalition of Domestic Election Observers noted alarming incidents of vote-buying and ballot photographing. There was a mini-scandal in Ayawaso West Wuogon because a candidate was sharing goodies with voters queuing to cast their ballots.
"CODEO calls on all political parties to refrain from these practices, which are deeply damaging to the integrity of the electoral process, and on voters to refuse any attempts of inducement and freely express their right to vote on December 7.
Despite such calls from observers, the Electoral Commission did not publicly condemn the conduct flagged by the coalition.
Beyond the election infractions, there are fears that they could escalate into violence if the bad actors are given too much rope.
Dr Kwesi Biney, a security analyst, noted that vigilante groups affiliated with political parties were still in clear and present danger despite the belief they had been defended.
A few days to the election, police intercepted 88 men purported heading to the North East Region to serve as private security. Biney argued that unbiased policing would be key to a successful election.
“The security services should be insulated from political interference, and their independence and impartiality should be guaranteed.”
Postmortem by Electoral Commission
When the dust settles on the 2024 election, Garr says a review of the Electoral Commission’s election management is needed. When asked if a public inquiry would be needed, the analyst tempers such expectations despite stressing the need for some form of accountability.
Findings from the Afrobarometer survey show that while most Ghanaians support elections as the best way to choose their leaders, public trust in the election management body is at a 23-year low.
In 2024, only 28% of respondents expressed trust in the commission, a massive drop from the 59% trust level it enjoyed in 2012.
“The onus lies on the EC to look into its system and find out why we are having these simple unprecedented lapses coming out,” said Garr.
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Source: YEN.com.gh
