Coalition calls for investigations into electoral violence
A Coalition of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) has called for investigations into incidence of electoral violence recorded during and after the December 7 polls.
The CSOs Coalition, in a statement issued on Tuesday and copied to the Ghana News Agency, condemned the acts of violence and recommended that security services immediately launched investigations into all reported crimes during the electoral process.
It said the security agencies must prosecute perpetrators involved in the recorded pockets of violence, which had led to various injuries and deaths.
“We, the undersigned civil society organisations, commend all the key stakeholders including the Electoral Commission (EC), political parties, citizens and the media for their commitments towards ensuring a generally peaceful presidential and parliamentary elections,” the statement said.
“We have taken note of matters arising after the declaration of election results by the EC,” it said, and called on the parties to use laid down procedures outlined by law to resolve the issues.
The statement reminded leaders of the two major political parties to respect the Peace Pact they signed, which did not only spell out commitment to promoting peaceful elections but also a pledge to resort to judicial processes to address all election disputes.
It encouraged political parties to advice their members to remain calm and refrain from violence as they followed laid down procedures to challenge the election results.
It proposed the EC convened an IPAC meeting to brainstorm and find permanent solutions to the gaps and errors that had emerged during the elections and to update existing electoral laws, policies and procedures with agreed recommendations to prevent a future re-occurrence of such challenges.
“Working together, we believe that we can collectively enhance Ghana’s democratic credentials. Speedy resolution of this impasse is vital to maintaining peace as well as justice. God bless Ghana!” it added.
Members of the CSOs Coalition are the Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition, the Citizens Movement Against Corruption, IMANI-Ghana, Penplusbytes and the Africa Centre for Energy Policy.
Others are the Ghana Integrity Initiative, the Media Foundation for West Africa, SEND Ghana, Africa Centre for International Law and Accountability and Renel Ghana Foundation.
The rest are the CFF-Ghana, MAPnet Ghana, Lamaconsult Foundation, Nkosec93 Foundation, Youth Bridge Foundation and ABAK Foundation Ghana.
Source: GNA