Pre-election environment observation statement for the month of September

The Coalition of Domestic Election Observers (CODEO), as part of its comprehensive observation of the December 7, 2020 presidential and parliamentary elections of Ghana, has noted that the level of civic and voter education activities are generally low across the various constituencies. A similarly low visibility of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) interventions in support of the up-coming elections, particularly peace promotion activities was also observed.

These were contained in a statement on a pre-election environment observation for the month of September. The observation was carried out in sixty-five purposively selected constituencies which included a mix of constituencies in areas that are considered as stronghold, swing/competitive, and hot-spot as well as some constituencies along border communities in the country.

According to the statement, some disregard for COVID-19 health and safety protocols was observed at some political party activities. For instance, at Tikobo No. 1 in the Jomoro constituency in the Western region, some party supporters of the NPP did not wear nose masks neither did they observe social distancing during a health walk through the principal streets of the town. Similar observations were noted during some meetings organized by two other political parties – the Ghana Union Movement (GUM) and the NDC in the same constituency.

It also observed that the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) were the most visible political parties in the constituencies in which the study was conducted as far as political campaigning and related activities were concerned.

CODEO said that it also observed that the main policy issues that were raised or discussed particularly by the NPP and the NDC during the political activities were education, unemployment and the economy.

It said that very few civic/voter education and other election-related activities (such as peace promotion) by Civil Society Organisations were noted in the observed constituencies. However, the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) and the Electoral Commission (EC) had been leading some civic and voter education activities in the constituencies observed, followed by political parties and religious bodies.

While observers’ reports indicated a generally peaceful electoral environment, there were a few incidents of use of abusive or inflammatory language, destruction or removal of party/candidate paraphernalia, and election-related violence. For instance, in the Bekwai Constituency in the Ashanti Region, there was an alleged physical attack on the communication officers of one Lawyer Akwasi Amofa, an aspiring independent parliamentary candidate for the constituency. The incident occurred on September 22, 2020 at a local radio station (Dess FM) after a political talk show.

The reports indicated that while the said communication officers were waiting for their vehicle, a group of armed men surrounded them with cutlasses and knives. The intervention of some people believed to be body guards of the communication officers brought the situation under control.

Similarly, on September 24, 2020, the NPP Constituency Chairman of the Jomoro Constituency in the Western Region alleged that he had been attacked by a group of NDC youth as he drove through the Ehoaka community. He allegedly lodged a complaint at the Half Assini police station.

There were also reports of destruction of campaign posters. For example, at Half Assini, Bonyere, Tikobo and Old Edobo in the Jomoro Constituency in the Western region, it was observed that some posters of the NPP and NDC parliamentary candidates had been torn/defaced, and in some cases, some posters had been placed on others.

The statement said that the observers made a few reports about the use of official public, state-supported or state-organized events for political campaigning. These included the use of public (state or local) vehicles for campaigning activities. For instance, on September 2, 2020, an official vehicle of the Juaboso District Assembly was used to convey some political party supporters on a campaign tour.

On the exhibition of the Provisional Voter Register by the EC from September 18-27, 2020, it was observed at 389 exhibition centers across the 65 constituencies that were observed that there was a low turn-out with majority (77%) of observed centers recording a daily attendance of less than 50 persons. On the last day of the exercise, while CODEO noted that 65% of the 65 exhibition centers observed in the day recorded turn-out of 50% or more, the remaining 35% recorded turn-out of fewer than 50%.

While some centers recorded very impressive turn-out figures, others recorded very low turn-out. For instance, while the Bewadze D/A Primary School Exhibition Center in the Gomoa West Constituency in the Central Region recorded turn-out of nearly 99% at the end of the 10 days of the exercise, the Atomic Hill Demo School Exhibition Center in the Dome Kwabenya Constituency in the Greater Accra region recorded a turn-out of 20% for the entire exercise.

The exhibition exercise was generally peaceful but marked by some challenges in relation to missing names from the provisional voter register at some centers observed. While some exhibition centers had a few missing names from the provisional voter register displayed, others had considerable numbers of names missing from the register. Such centers included: the Temporal Booth Exhibition Center at Moyiri in the Jirapa Constituency in the Upper West region where only 68 out of the total 253 expected names on the Provisional Register appeared; the Piiyiri No. 2 Exhibition Center also in Jirapa where about 400 names were missing; the Riyadul Quran exhibition center in the Tamale North Constituency where about 200 names were missing from the voter register; the Gbingbani L/A Primary School Exhibition Center at the Yunyoo Constituency where only 24 of the 564 registered population appeared on the register and lastly the Klikor STS in Ketu South Constituency in the Volta Region where about 24 names were missing from the register.

As regards the extended biometric voter registration exercise on Thursday, October 1, 2020, NPP and NDC agents were seen at most centers observed, while a few centers had, in addition, agents from other political parties such as the Convention Peoples’ Party (CPP), The People’s National Convention (PNC) and the Progressive People’s Party (PPP). The statement noted that the exercise was generally smooth and calm with few reported incidents of chaos and acts of violence. For example, in Assin North Constituency in the Central Region, violence broke out between agents of the NPP and NDC over alleged registration of suspected under-aged persons and accusations over the abuse of the ‘challenge procedure’. This led to the dismissal of a party agent from the centre by the Registration Officer. The registration process was halted for some minutes and subsequently resumed following the intervention of the security personnel present.

Similar incidents were recorded at a few other registration centres. There were few reported challenges with the performance of Biometric Verification Devices. The exercise was generally well patronized with hundreds of people thronging many of the centres. Many centres registered between 100 and 200 people, or beyond, while others registered less than 100. At the close of the registration exercise on October 1, 2020, majority of the centres observed by CODEO had people in queues (in many cases between 50-200 people) who could not get registered. District EC officials, however, provided numbers to those who could not get registered at the end of the day and asked them to come the following day to register. On Friday, October 2, 2020, many district EC offices re-opened registration and CODEO observers indicated that at nearly all the observed districts offices, people who presented themselves for registration were able to do so.

CODEO condemns all reported acts of violence which took place during the period of observation. The Coalition reiterates its call on the security agencies to take appropriate action against all perpetrators of violence. CODEO reminds the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) of the need to share updates with the public on the progress of all cases of election-related violence as failure to ensure people are punished for their crimes will further erode public confidence and encourage impunity.

The Coalition cautions all stakeholders to be mindful of all the necessary COVID-19 health and safety protocols to help minimize the potential spread of the virus.

CODEO entreats CSOs and all election related stakeholders to intensify their election support activities across the country, particularly in the area of violence monitoring and peace promotion, and educating the citizenry on their civic rights, duties and responsibilities to compliment the work of the NCCE and the EC.

CODEO urges the EC and NCCE not to limit their civic/voter education to the traditional media, particularly radio, but also take advantage of community meeting platforms, street announcement and other forms/modes of educating the public. These must however be done with the necessary arrangements for ensuring the observation of CO VID-19 health and safety protocols.

CODEO entreats the EC to take all necessary steps to rectify the identified challenges with the provisional voter register so that all registered voters are able to exercise their right to vote. While the Coalition acknowledged the public explanations provided by the EC regarding the challenges identified with the provisional voter register, the Coalition believed that there were still gaps in stakeholder engagement and communication. The Coalition entreated the EC to enhance stakeholder engagement, not just around the voter register but on the entire electoral process to help mobilize public support and promote transparency and inclusion towards achieving a free, fair and credible electoral process.

The Coalition also entreated the EC to make the updated provisional voter register available to political parties as early as possible to allow for the cross-checking of figures in the bid to promote trust and further ensure that all identified challenges are rectified before the voter register is certified. The EC was also entreated to provide clear information on results of the Adjudication Review Committee’s work.

CODEO assured the public that it would continue to observe the pre-election environment and duly share its findings with the public on a monthly basis.

CODEO’s long-term observation is made possible with the generous support of the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).