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Ghana: Election Commentary
AfricaFocus Bulletin
Dec 19, 2004 (041219)
(Reposted from sources cited below)
Editor's Note
"What Ghanaians have managed to do with this election is prove that
election management is no rocket science. It requires adequate and
competent preparation, a high degree of transparency, a responsible
government, which respects its own citizens, and an alert citizenry
ready to protect their vote. ... the process that I witnessed was
without exaggeration better than what transpired in the last US
election." - Dr. Kayode Fayemi, Centre for Democracy and
Development
Of five African elections held in the last two months - in Ghana,
Niger, Botswana, Namibia, and Mozambique - none attracted major
international attention. All returned incumbent parties to office,
and none was entirely free of questionable aspects of process or
broader questions concerning concentration of political power. But
they were also a sign of the routinization of elections as a
component of political stability in a large number of African
countries.
This AfricaFocus Bulletin contains a commentary on the election in
Ghana from the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD),
published in Pambazuka News for December 16, 2004. It is also
available on the CDD website (http://www.cdd.org.uk), along with
reports on other West African elections.
For reports on elections in Southern Africa, see
http://www.eisa.org.za More detailed reports on the election in
Mozambique are available at
http://www.mozambique.mz/awepa/issues.htm
A post-election report from an international observer mission to
the U.S. election (see
http://www.africafocus.org/docs04/elec0410.php for background and
excerpts from a pre-election report) is available at
http://www.fairelection.us
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NOTE: Today's two issues of AfricaFocus Bulletin are the last for
2004. My best wishes to readers for the holidays and for our common
work and concerns for Africa as we enter the new year. Publication
will resume in the second week of January.
AfricaFocus Bulletin will continue to need your support in 2005. To
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The AfricaFocus website is always available and regularly updated
with newsfeeds from AllAfrica.com and IRIN. For convenient access
to country-specific background links and news feeds, visit
http://www.africafocus.org/country/countries.php
Previous issues of AfricaFocus Bulletin are easily accessible on
the site. Topical listings include:
Politics and human rights
http://www.africafocus.org/polexp.php
Peace and security
http://www.africafocus.org/peaceexp.php
Health
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Economy and development
http://www.africafocus.org/econexp.php
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Reflections on Ghana's Election and the Lessons for West Africa
Kayode Fayemi*
Pambazuka News 187, 16 December 2004
http://www.pambazuka.org
* Dr Kayode Fayemi is Director, Centre for Democracy & Development,
in Nigeria. This article is reproduced with permission of CDD.
In the arena of post cold war democratisation in Africa, Ghana
clearly hit the ground running. From the first election in 1992
that saw the transformation of Flight Lt Jerry Rawlings to
President Jerry Rawlings, through the 1996 'stolen election', to
the 2000 election, which resulted in the alternation of power from
Rawlings' National Democratic Congress (NDC) Government to John
Kuffuor's New Patriotic Party (NPP) government, the 2004 election
promised all the elements of a consolidation election.
This was the context of the Economic Community of West African
States (ECOWAS)-West Africa Civil Society Forum's observer mission
to Ghana's election this week. Although ECOWAS deployed its own
official observer mission, the leadership of West African civil
society bodies affiliated to ECOWAS also felt we needed to
undertake our own mission. It was a small team of ten led by Sierra
Leone's civil society activist and politician, Zainab Bangura, and
we deployed in five regions - Greater Accra, Volta, Ashanti,
Eastern, and Northern regions. I was in the Greater Accra region
with our Team Leader, Zainab Bangura, and coordinated the reports
from our colleagues in the hinterland.
Although we were prepared for a well-run election, as Africans who
have also 'monitored' elections in several African countries, we
were on the lookout for inadequacies. In terms of the preparation
and even-handedness of the electoral commission, we were not
disappointed. The Electoral Commission arranged our accreditation
promptly even though we applied late, it sent its officials to
train us on the peculiarities of elections observation in Ghana,
and the training covered a range of subjects from security to the
voter register. Finally, the EC invited us to contact its officials
immediately we notice anything unusual during the voting exercise.
In the period prior to the polls we also met with the leadership of
the major political parties, NPP, NDC and CPP, and they all evinced
a strong desire for a peaceful and well-run election. All espoused
non-violence and all said that if they lost they would seek redress
through legal means or accept defeat. It was apparent that
campaigning also involved an element of voter education, for
example in how to mark the ballots correctly, making the point that
those with a vested interest can be the most committed teachers.
The parties were not without complaints, especially officials of
the official opposition NDC, and these were extensively documented
in a "Memorandum for Foreign and Domestic Observers and Monitors"
which was shared with us by its officials. Their concerns ranged
from the Voters Identification Card system, delays in disbursement
of funds to the EC, manipulation of the media and biased coverage
in favour of the ruling party, training of foreign mercenaries and
importation of weapons and the alleged partisan involvement of
President Obasanjo of Nigeria.
On the eve of the election, the NDC insisted on a meeting of all
the political parties with the Electoral Commission to discuss
lingering concerns about the "flawed process". We attended the
meeting as observers and it was interesting to see the manner the
Electoral Commission responded to all the allegations made by the
NDC, both in the way it conceded on some of the gaps noticed by NDC
and in the manner it held its own grounds on other aspects of its
preparations. I am familiar with many of these allegations as a
Ghanaian resident and felt the EC did a good job of demonstrating
its independence.
On Election Day, our team visited no fewer than forty polling
stations in the Greater Accra region. It was only in one station
that the election did not start promptly at 7.a.m because materials
did not arrive there due to a vehicle breakdown. We made a point of
speaking particularly to party polling agents and it was remarkable
that not a single polling agent, particularly those from the
opposition parties had any complaints to make to us. In a few
polling booths with unusually large number of voters, there was
some rowdiness, but by the time we brought this to the notice of
the Deputy Chairman in Charge of Operations at the EC headquarters,
the Commission promptly took action.
In all cases, police presence was hardly noticeable as they stood
some distance from the polling officials, except when their
attention was requested. Our colleagues in the other regions
painted pretty much the same picture, except the Northern region
where there were pockets of violence in the Bawku constituency.
With respect to counting, this was done at each polling station
immediately after voting stopped at 5.p.m. In a unique
collaboration between Joy 99 FM station, the Institute of Economic
Affairs and Ghana's largest mobile telephone company, Spacefon,
results were relayed by phone to the news studio and broadcast,
across the country.
What Ghanaians have managed to do with this election is prove that
election management is no rocket science. It requires adequate and
competent preparation, a high degree of transparency, a responsible
government, which respects its own citizens and an alert citizenry
ready to protect their vote. It does not matter who wins the
election in Ghana as the results were still coming in by the time
this was written, but the process that I witnessed was without
exaggeration better than what transpired in the last US election.
(Editors note: Subsequent to this article being written, President
John Kufuor has won re-election for a second term.)
Yet in spite of all one has written, Ghana is not without post
election challenges. If President Kufuor wins the election, he
would be mistaken to interpret the verdict as a vote of confidence
in his government's performance. Ghanaians still worry that their
economy is too aid-dependent with sixty percent of the budget
coming from external assistance and extreme poverty still stalking
the land.
My own assessment listening to Ghana's proliferating FM stations
and to ordinary people in my four years of part-residence in Ghana
is that the legacies of authoritarian rule and the search for
stability count more for ordinary Ghanaians than immediate economic
gains. But this may not be for long. As long as many Ghanaians see
the shadow of former President Rawlings lurking in the opposition
NDC though, the likelihood of its victory in presidential election
is remote.
The irony is that the NPP government has not necessarily performed
creditably in ensuring the security and safety of ordinary
Ghanaians, especially Ghanaians in the Northern region. The brazen
murder of the local monarch, the Ya Na in Yendi District, a centre
of traditional influence in the Northern region remains a major
source of tension and there are those who see the NPP as
responsible for this, given the prominence of major NPP figures
like Aliu Mahama (current Vice President), Joshua Hamidu (former
National Security Adviser and now High Commissioner to Nigeria) and
Malik Alhassan Yakubu (former Interior Minister) in the conflict.
Indeed, the only area that witnessed serious conflict during the
election was the North, especially the Bawku constituency where
Hawa Yakubu, prominent civil society activist and ECOWAS
Parliamentarian was a candidate.
Equally, in terms of development, the property owning democracy and
golden age of business that NPP promised Ghanaians is yet to
materialise four years after it came into office. Generally, the
economy is no better than where the NDC left it. Over the past two
decades, market forces have dominated the economy and this trend
has continued with the NPP government. The economy is reliant on
the export of primary products thus making it vulnerable to the
general shocks of the global economy including price fluctuations.
Further, since the 1990s, the economy has been characterised by
high rates of inflation, high interest rates, depreciation of the
cedi, dwindling foreign reserves, excessive public debt overhang
and stagnant economic growth, implementation of the government
poverty reduction strategy notwithstanding. The real test of NPP's
popularity will come in 2008 when Kuffuor's term expires, and the
opposition parties have managed to re-organise themselves.
There are lessons too for other West African countries, especially
the most populous of them all, Nigeria. It is arguable that
elections in Ghana have resulted in enhanced legitimacy because the
chain has remained unbroken since 1992. Having run the fourth
election in an unbroken cycle, the Electoral Commission in Ghana is
regarded as one of the best managed in the whole of Africa. Its
Executive Chairman, Dr Kwadjo Afari-Gyan, and his fellow
commissioners have become well-known elections gurus in the
continent, earning the respect of peers across the board. Sitting
in on one of the Commission's meetings with political parties, one
can understand why. Dr Afari-Gyan demonstrated a mastery of his
brief without being arrogant, entertained legitimate complaints
from the opposition parties and left all with a clear impression
that he was not in the pocket of any government or opposition
party.
The challenge is therefore to organise an Electoral Commission that
is truly independent of Government and wholly accountable to the
people. The Ghanaians can help by sharing their experience with
other West Africans, and since Dr Afari-Gyan is already the
Secretary-General of the Elections Management Bodies in Africa,
there is a platform to achieve this objective.
Also, given the plans by ECOWAS to establish a full Elections Unit
in the ECOWAS Secretariat, that Unit has the specific challenge of
assisting to enhance election management in West Africa, by
providing capacity strengthening initiatives and strictly upholding
the provisions of the Supplementary protocol on Democracy & Good
Governance signed by all Heads of States in West Africa, but yet to
be ratified by the majority of these leaders.
Another lesson that West African states should take to heart is the
relevance of freedom of information and the vigilance of civil
society. A major credit for the transparent conduct of the Ghanaian
election goes to the several FM stations dotted around the country
and the vigilance of CODEO - the local domestic observer mission of
7,000 people. Although some of the FM stations can be a bit over
the top in the use of inelegant adjectives to describe the
President and opposition leaders, they feed the public with
regular, minute-by-minute updates on the elections, and in the
process prevent potential problems. They also broadcast provisional
election results as soon as counting is completed at the polling
booth and follow this to the collation centres until final results
are delivered. And, more importantly, they are encouraged to do so
by the Electoral Commission. So, the idea that a result known to
everyone at the local level suddenly produces another winner as it
happens in Nigeria is immediately nipped in the bud.
Finally, what Ghana proves is the importance of distance between
the Electoral Commission and the political leadership in any state
and the confidence that comes from understanding and
surefootedness. We need a better understanding of electoral
geography in all of our countries in West Africa, a factor that may
well be responsible for the fear of election among the contending
parties in Cote d'Ivoire. Two, we should let the public nominate
elections commissioners and subject them to public scrutiny before
Parliament appoints them in our countries; three, we must fund the
electoral body direct from the Consolidated Account without any
interference from the ruling Government; four, the electoral body
must be supported by an independent bureaucracy, not the regular
civil service, and finally, we must ensure that the electoral law
promotes independent candidacy and proportional representation
rather than winner takes all mentality in our countries where
diversity should be celebrated.
In all of these areas, Ghana is light years ahead of many West
African states but that is really where the greatest hope lies.
Here is a country that was a complete basket case in the early
1980s and many never thought it could recover from its abysmal
state. It also defies political science theory up to a point, in
that the people are still poor but they value democracy. Barely two
decades later, Ghana is an example and a beacon of hope for the
rest of Africa. African states' permanent transition too may yet
lead to transformation and I believe that if the chain remains
unbroken in many of our states, we will improve electoral
legitimacy.
Press Statement by the West African Civil Society Forum (WACSOF) on
the Ghana Presidential and Parliamentary Elections of 7th December
2004
The West African Civil Society Forum (WACSOF) is a network of civil
society organizations throughout the 15 member states of the
Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) with diverse
backgrounds and experience.
In line with WACSOF's key objective of promoting free, fair and
credible elections as a means to ensuring that democracy and good
governance prevails in the sub-region, a team of election observers
was sent to observe the Ghana Presidential and parliamentary
elections held on Tuesday 7th December 2004. The team included men
and women from the following ECOWAS member states Benin,
Guinea-Bissau, Ghana, The Gambia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria. The
team was in Ghana from Tuesday 30th November to Friday 10th
December, 2004.
The mission of the team was among others, to study the Ghana
electoral process and draw some useful lessons from which WACSOF
can benefit to help inform how civil society can be better
organized and capacitated to effectively engage in democratic
processes in other West African countries.
In order to adequately achieve this task, five teams were deployed
in the following regions-Volta, Ashanti, Central Northern and
Greater Accra. In each of these regions, the observers visited the
interviewed electoral Commission officials, political parties, the
media, voters and security operatives.
Even though WACSOF was not on the ground in Ghana long enough to be
able to make valid judgements about the electoral process, WACSOF
wishes to make the following comments:
- WACSOF commends the Electoral commission for the high level of
professionalism displayed. The processes and procedures, materials
and logistical arrangements were considered adequate for the
conduct of elections.
- The active involvement of civil society and the media was
evident and is commendable. The non-partisanship of some the TV and
FM stations deserves special mention and is encouraged. It is
however noted that some of the newspaper reports and TV campaign
adverts were considered not very helpful.
- WACSOF is delighted to note the very encouraging level of
participation and involvement of the Ghanaian electorate in the
electoral process. The high turnout, attitude, passion, enthusiasm,
patience, tolerance and orderly conduct of the Ghanaian voter are
applauded.
- WACSOF would like to note especially the active involvement and
participation of women. This was evident in the large turnout of
female voters and the role women played as staff of the Electoral
Commission and as aspirants.
- The involvement and participation of the physically challenged
as voters, domestic observers and aspirants was most encouraging.
This should most positively influence countries in the sub region
just recovering from violent conflicts during which large number of
their citizens have been permanently disabled.
- The professional conduct of the security agencies and their
close collaboration with the Electoral Commission in ensuring
conducive and appropriate conditions of the electoral process is
also commended.
- WACSOF acknowledge the support from the ECOWAS Executive
Secretariat and DANIDA in making observer Mission a success.
- Finally, WACSOF is of the opinion that no serious electoral
malpractices were observed that would question the validity of the
election results and indeed the integrity of the electoral process.
The results so far announced, WASCOF believes, represent the
expressed will of the Ghanaian populace. The elections can
therefore be described as free and peaceful. WACSOF therefore calls
on all stakeholders to ensure the growth of true and participatory
democracy in Ghana. Ghana has indeed come a long way and the
challenge Ghanaians now face is how to sustain this democracy and
consolidate on the social and economic gains so far achieved.
Done in Accra this day 9 December 2004. Mrs. Zainab Hawa Bangura
(Team Leader)
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