December 5, 2016
Communiqué: IBIS, Partner CSOs Urge Stakeholders to Ensure Peaceful Elections
We, the undersigned Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) who are partners of IBIS, an international development organisation now affiliated with Oxfam; having met at a forum convened by IBIS in Accra on November 24, 2016 to discuss our respective election-related initiatives, and explore ways of complementing and strengthening each other’s work in order to contribute to peaceful, free and fair elections in Ghana, jointly adopted this communiqué.
As CSOs working on various election related matters including political party engagement; inclusion and participation of all Ghanaians; peace and security; and election monitoring, we applaud the signing of a commitment to peace by all presidential candidates. It is our hope that the candidates will, in all their actions before, during and after the elections, conduct themselves and encourage their parties and supporters to act in ways that reaffirm their commitment to peaceful elections.
To further consolidate the processes for peaceful, free and fair elections:
We urge political parties and candidates to prevail on their supporters to be ambassadors of peace and democracy by exercising the franchise peacefully and conducting themselves lawfully before, during and after the elections.
We call on state agencies and stakeholders in the electoral process— including security agencies and officials, the Electoral Commission, and the media— to be professional at all times, to discharge their mandates freely, fairly and transparently, and to avoid actions that violate the rights of citizens or have the potential to provoke violent public reactions before, during and after the polls.
We call on the general public to remember their civic duty to the state, which goes beyond loyalty to political parties to the ideals of a thriving, united nationhood, now and forever. We further urge the public to vote based on issues and contribute their quota to maintaining peace during the elections.
We remind the Presidential and Parliamentary candidates that the promises made during the political season should not be abandoned after the elections. We will remain actively involved throughout the transition process, and commit to regularly updating Ghana’s citizenry on the progress of achieving the goals set forth by the party in power over the course of the next four years.
As CSOs actively working in partnership with IBIS to strengthen democratic, inclusive and equitable governance we remain committed to:
Promoting Democratic governance reforms, equitable economic redistribution, accountable and transparent management of public resources;
Promoting pro-poor policies and programmes for poverty reduction in Ghana;
Contribute towards the achieving the Sustainable Development Goals; and
Promoting equal participation of women, Persons Living with Disabilities (PWDs), and other vulnerable groups in the country’s governance.
Issued in Accra this 5th day of December, 2016.
Signed: ACEP, CALID, CBA Ghana, CODAC, GNECC, IDEG, IMANI, MFWA, NORSAAC, SYPPA, WiLDAF Ghana
