OPEN VOTERS REGISTER EARLY (p.43) 25-08-08

Story: Kofi Yeboah & Moses Dotsey Aklorbortu, Elmina
A LECTURER at the Political Science Department of the University of Ghana, Dr Kumi Ansah-Koi, has challenged the Electoral Commission (EC) to display the voters register early enough in order to avoid any controversy that may undermine national peace.
He said the early display of the register would give ample time to clean up the register and to avoid instances where political parties might reject it as being over-bloated.
Dr Ansah-Koi said this at the opening of a two-day workshop on “Non-violent election in 2008” at Elmina in the Central Region today.
It was organised by the NPC in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) for traditional leaders, security personnel, members of civil society organisations and the media.
The NPC is a body of eminent persons committed to the promotion of peace in the country through education and capacity-building.
This year, the council is particularly focusing on a peaceful election in December by engaging the various actors in the electoral process on how they could all contribute to the peaceful process.
Dr Ansah-Koi said it was wrong for the EC to undertake the limited voters registration exercise at a time the major political parties had elected their flagbearers, adding that the late opening of the register contributed to the violence that characterised the exercise.
He urged the commission to ensure a timely declaration of results after the December election to avoid a situation whereby the media and political parties would unofficially declare the results and consequently cause confusion.
Dr Ansah-Koi said modern technology, such the use of mobile phones, it should be possible for the EC to declare the results as early as possible.
He said civil society and the clergy had the power to bring politicians to order and stop them from making inflamatory statements, adding that politicians would always change if they knew that society frowned on their actions, which could undermine their political fortunes.
Dr Ansah-Koi further stressed the need for civil society to compel political parties to keep to the rules of the game, while urging the media to desist from sensationalism and distortion in their reportage, since that could be harmful to national peace and security.
He said there was no civil war in Africa whose cause did not involve the media, and stressed the need for the media and all Ghanaians to eschew complacency in the quest for a peaceful election.
The Omanhene of Ogua Traditional Council, Osabarima Kwesi Atta II, who chaired the function, called on traditional leaders, security personnel, civil society and the media not to allow a few minority of Ghanaians to plunge the nation into chaos during the December election.
He said recent events of election violence in some African countries were enough indications to make Ghanaians eschew complacency for a peaceful election.
Osabarima Kwesi Atta said peace was vital for the progress and wellbeing of the people, pointing out that traditional rulers, civil society and the media had a cardinal responsibility to ensure peace in the country before, during and after the December election..
The Catholic Bishop of Ho, Bishop Francis Lodonu, said the role of traditional leaders, security personnel, the media and civil society in creating a peaceful environment before, during and after the December election could not be over estimated.
He said in recent times, elections had been a source of insecurity in many African countries, such as Nigeria, Kenya and Zimbabwe.
Bishop Lodonu urged the participants to formulate appropriate methods that would help address early warning signs.
He said the NPC was was an independent, non-partisan, impartial and credible agent for the maintenance and consolidation of national peace.
The Programme Officer incharge of Peace and Governance at the UNDP Country Office, Mr Francis Azumah, urged Ghanaians to celebrate their diversity rather than use it as a means of fomenting violence.
He said election was only a minute aspect of the governance equation and wondered why people should use that to plunge the nation into violence.