Remember your standards in election; UN/ECOWAS to Ghana

A joint UN and ECOWAS Mission have encouraged Ghana to remember the standard it has established during elections and pursue same during the forthcoming presidential and parliamentary elections in December.

The Special Representative, UN Secretary-General and Head, UN Office for West Africa and the Sahel, Dr Mohamed Ibn Chambas, said the country has set high track record in the conduct of credible elections so the December polls should not be an exception.

He lauded Ghana for establishing a good track record in the conduct of credible, peaceful and transparent elections, whose results were accepted by all.

He made the comments when he led the joint Mission to pay a courtesy call on the Foreign Affairs Minister as part of activities of touring the five nations in the sub-region, which are scheduled to hold elections between now and the close of the year.

Stakeholder engagement

Dr Ibn Chambas said since their arrival, they had met with key stakeholders such as the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission (EC), who briefed them on their level of preparations towards the elections, where they were now and the way forward.

According to him, the Commission assured them that they are ready to conduct credible elections.
Also, he disclosed that the delegation had met with the national executives of both the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), as well as representatives of 14 political parties at a forum in Accra.

“We participated in the launch of a programme by the National Commission for Small Arms and Light Weapons, a timely launch of this initiative to work against a violent-free election. This country doesn’t have a record of election related violence, and we were reminded by the IGP that, in 2016, the entire process unfolded without a single person being shot and that is normally what we have come to expect here. We were also at the National Peace Council,” he said.

Gov’t committed to democracy

The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey underscored the importance of elections as a key element in deepening multiparty democracy and accountability in governance.

She noted that Ghana holds in high esteem her commitments to democracy, good governance, respect for human rights and the rule of law, which “have underpinned our political dispensation”.

“We in Ghana are very proud and jealous of our democratic credentials. Elections are very key element of democracy and the need for governments to go back to the electorate is part of accountability to the people for your mandate to be renewed. So for us, it is very important and we value this so much and therefore we will not take it for granted,” she said.

Ms Botchwey added that the Joint UN and ECOWAS High Level Mission had offered the opportunity to political actors to express their view point on the preparations for the conduct of presidential and parliamentary elections scheduled to take place on December 7.

She assured the delegation of the government’s support and commitment to working closely with stakeholders for a peaceful, free and fair polls on December 7.

The Minister further underscored the importance of unifying the people of Ghana before, during and after the elections to enable the winning party to safeguard the peace for national development.