Curb violence in Volta voter registration to avert election clashes: CODEO

The Coalition of Domestic Election Observers (CODEO) is demanding that the state security services investigate the incidents of violence and intimidation in the Bono, Central and Volta Regions that marred the voter registration exercise which ended on 6 August.

CODEO’s national co-ordinator, Albert Arhin, believes that prompt action will be crucial to avert violence in the presidential and parliamentary elections scheduled for 7 December.

He wants the outcome of the investigations shared with the political parties, especially the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), to help resolve any disputes in the lead-up to the general election.

Arhin was speaking to Nana Yaa Mensah on the Asaase Breakfast Show after CODEO published its preliminary report on the just-ended nationwide voter registration by the Electoral Commission (EC).

No “walking away”

“Going into the exercise, we have had incidents of violence, intimidation and harassment. So the Inspector General of Police must expedite action to bring the perpetrators to book,” Arhin said.

“From past experience, we have observed most of the time people commit these acts and walk away with it,” he said. “We need to take precautions to punish people who are found culpable to make it less attractive for others to engage in such acts.”

He was however hopeful that the EC will perform well in delivering the December elections, considering how it has handled voter registration this year.

“If they have been able to do this even in the midst of COVID-19, then we are confident that, with the proper training of personnel, the general election will turn out well.”

CODEO report

The Ghanaian election observers’ group was represented in 100 constituencies across the country, picked at random.

Its report looked at a range of performance indicators, including physical challenges, representation of political parties, the effectiveness of biometric voter registration (BVR) equipment, preparedness of the EC and adherence to COVID-19 protocols.

The CODEO report gave the EC high marks for its management of the 2020 registration process compared to its performance in past exercises.

It was however not happy with some of the security arrangements, noting that 38% of the centres it visited did not have security personnel present.

CODEO described the development as worrying and said it must be rectified before the general election.

Fred Dzakpata

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