A violent scene during the election
The Coalition of Domestic Election Observers (CODEO) has expressed its grievances on the disruption that occurred during the Ablekuma North Constituency election re-run in Accra.
In a statement issued yesterday, the coalition condemned the violence and intimidation against poll workers, voters, journalists and two female politicians that disorganised the electoral process.
The coalition further commended the Ghana Police Service for interdicting the officer who allegedly assaulted a journalist, and urged the police to apprehend and prosecute all persons involved in the acts of violence.
It stated, “Perpetrators must face the full force of the law to deter others from engaging in such undemocratic practices during elections and clamp down on impunity.”
CODEO also urged all Ghanaians and the media who captured various angles of the incidents to make their videos and photos available to the Ghana Police Service, to aid in their work.
Again, the coalition also condemned the use of “incendiary and provocative language” by both the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) at the end of the election.
“It is clear that political party actors are unwilling to learn from the many years of election-related violence and the numerous victims it has produced in the Fourth Republic,” it stated.
It added that this toxic political culture must be removed from competitive politics, stating that “it will one day overwhelm all of us and destabilise Ghana’s young democracy.”
Further, it stated that the security lapses observed during the Ablekuma North Constituency election re-run despite the visibility of security personnel, questions the state of the Ghana Police Service.
The group expressed surprise on the roaming of unauthorised persons, who were allowed to move freely around the polling stations posing fear to voters without interception.
CODEO, therefore, called on President John Mahama and the Ghana Police Council to invoke their constitutional authority under Article 202(2) to launch an official inquiry into the police’s handling of election security during the re-run.
By Florence Asamoah Adom