Under the aegis of the National Peace Council (NPC), Ghana’s political parties signed a code of conduct on vigilantism and election violence in July 2024 to mark the start of the election campaign season, and inaugurated a monitoring commission to oversee compliance.
“Political parties have a major responsibility to the Nation to make sure that elections in this country do not upset its prized peace and stability,” stressed NPC Chairperson Ernest Adu Gyamfi at the signing ceremony in Accra. “Violence is not a legitimate election strategy.”
A new Commission to address violations and potential conflicts
The representatives of the countries’ two main parties, the New Patriotic Party (NPP), currently in office, and the National Democratic Congress (NDC), in opposition, conceded that their youth wings had sometimes resorted to violence and intimidation in past elections, which was unacceptable. They welcomed the inauguration of the monitoring commission, which should help them keep their activists in line.
“Violence is not a legitimate election strategy.”
Ernest Adu Gyamfi, National Peace Council Chairperson
The monitoring commission, which includes not only representatives of the main parties, who will provide a kind of peer review, but also the NPC, the Election Commission, the Inspectorate General of Police and the Kofi Annan Peacekeeping Training Centre, among others, will bring breaches of the code to the attention of the political parties and the NPC, which will be tasked with mediating any potential conflicts that may arise. The code ought to have a deterrence effect, and the commission will provide a means of addressing violations quickly.
The majority of Ghanaians express support for a democratic form of government
Ghana is a stable, democratic country with a history of successful political transitions, a free press, an active civil society, and an independent judiciary, and has held eight free and fair elections since 1992. In the most recent Afrobarometer survey, 76% of Ghanaians expressed support for a democratic form of government, and 67% rejected military rule, which has been gaining ground in the region. That said, general elections have regularly been marred by a degree of violence, often perpetrated by party-linked vigilantes.
source: Kofi Annan foundation