London, United Kingdom –Peace is not something we should only wish for, it is something we must all achieve and maintain. As we approach our landmark election on the 7th of December 2008, it is our collective responsibility as Ghanaians to do whatever it takes to ensure peace before, during, and after the elections. Democratic elections are not new to Ghana and Ghanaians, as we have organized and witnessed elections since the first republic and more recently in 1992; heralding the forth republic. Naturally, we have learnt lessons from these and have made significant changes to our electioneering processes to make them more transparent, free and fair. All political parties and well meaning Ghanaians have been preaching the virtues of our young democracy on their platforms. Now is the time to uphold these virtues in practice and in spirit. Brothers and sisters, we in the United Kingdom have observed troubling signs in the run up to the impending elections on December 7. We acknowledge there are challenges regarding the conduct of all elections more so this years elections; however, the challenges are surmountable.
There is no doubt the Electoral Commission and the governments of Ghana have the statutory responsibility of conducting free and fair elections. We welcome recent announcement from the Electoral Commission that they have been able to purge the electoral register of about five hundred thousand names. Much as this is commendable, it suggests we still have over one million of such names on the register. Our immediate concern is what happens to these names and what measures have been put in place to prevent any adverse effects on the true out come of the election. To buttress our concerns, we draw attention to the 2004 elections, where the winning margin was far less than one million. Therefore, the presence of over one million dodgy names on the register cannot be understated. Paradoxically, top functionaries of the NPP are openly boasting of organizing mass voter transfers across the country. We call on the electoral commission to guarantee to all Ghanaians that the presence of about one million dodgy names on the register would not end up in the ballot boxes? We need the electoral commission to clearly spell out how they intend to remove the remainder of the dodgy votes or prevent them from being used to subvert the will of the people. We need peace we can all believe in.
The NPP has always talked up violence, we want to remind them that violence is man-made therefore can be avoided. We deplore recent statements attributed to the Defence minister that ”if there should be war in the country, he and his family, as well as the other ministers would fly out, while the innocent and the poor faced the consequences” . These comments do not send the right signal prior to a landmark election.
President Kufour has on occasions around the world indicated that, he is aware President Rawlings is seeking financial help to truncate his government. It all turns out to be lies as he confessed during a BBC interview recently. Is this the way the President and his Defence Minister want to promote peace? The recent explosions at Anyaa that took lots of lives again are just reminders of how unpredictable the situation on the ground is.
We are aware of how drug runners have hijacked and ruined some democracies. As responsible Ghanaians we must do whatever it takes to stop and resist drug runners from interfering in our democratic dispensation. We are therefore concerned about the level of allegations of drug money tainting the electoral process. It is very frightening to imagine the possibility of drug runners funding certain political group/groups. In a recent interview on 28the October with the BBC, Kwesi Aning, head of research at the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre, said “Some of these guys were my mates in school and they were not too successful, and they've been in politics for less than 10 years," he told the BBC. "You don't make that kind of money in 10 years."
Kwasi Aning said he was talking about people "running for parliament, who are ministers, wanting to run for president". He went on to say that "It's not only about politics or politicians, it's about the police service, it's about customs, it's about immigration, it's about the judiciary, it's about our traditional institutions," and "What I'm saying is that the very fabric of Ghanaian society is under threat." Is the Inspector General of Ghana Police oblivious of these? Do we want drug runners to run our country? These are issues that have significant potential to jeopardise the peace in our country.
We are also concerned about allegations of gamut of ammunition being imported into the country by individuals or groups linked to the NPP government, indeed, sections of our society believe some of the recent unexplained fatalities through gun attack can be attributed to the importation of these arms. How can we ensure these arms are not going to be used to cause disturbances? We believe a vast majority of our Security Agencies are doing a great job. But it is difficult to see how successful they can be if the very people who give the orders for the services to act are the same people allegedly involved in creating the mess in the first place?
Evidently, a number of people have already lost their lives and property as a direct result of the 2008 electioneering campaign. It is obvious that majority of recent victims of politically motivated attacks are members or sympathizers of the NDC. The law enforcement agencies are yet to tell us the status of their investigations. Kennedy Agyapong a sitting MP with questionable credentials previously confessed he was aware of plans to assassinate former President Rawlings and his family if there were any disturbances during this year’s election, Recently he also boasted he was going to organize macho men to beat up NDC sympathizers and a few days after that it was alleged that he actually went ahead to assault a gentleman in his office, all parts of carrying out his threat. Consequently there are reports of heavy military presence in Cape Coast after the alleged threat of Mr Kennedy Agyapong, a personality that seems to be above the laws of Ghana; simply because he is a financier of the NPP. What sort of peace is the NPP talking about when they have thugs brutalising people? Is the Inspector General of police oblivious to the violence being unleashed on the opponents of the NPP? If not, how can he explain his position that, concerns about election related violence is just media hype as reported in the media on 21 Nov 2008. If the IGP does not even recognise that we already have violence associated with this years elections how prepared is he and his forces to prevent future occurrences or resolve those existing. We are aware of covert plans by the NPP to cause power outages, stage managed confusions, all with the ultimate purpose of cheating. As Ghanaians, we would resist all these in line with calls in our National Anthem to resist oppressors rule.
Yes, we in the NDC are for peace. We successfully organised three elections devoid of violence because it is part of our overall vision and a fervent aspiration to organise and achieve free, fair, and credible elections. Yes, we can have free and fair elections if the rigging machinery of the NPP is curtailed. The Electoral Commission and the people of Ghana have the panacea that can curtail the NPP’s rigging agenda.
We can have peace before during and after elections 2008 if the people of Ghana are allowed to freely express their will at the polls without manipulation and intimidation. Yes we can.
