By D.I. Laary, GNA
Accra, May 25, GNA - The Kenya Judiciary Committee on Elections (JCE) has engaged in a two-hour consultation with Ghanaian civil society groups to learn the best practices about how to handle election disputes.
Their visit came at a time when the East African country is heading for crucial polls on August 8, since it adopted its new Constitution in 2010.
A delegation of the 12-member Committee was in the country to draw on the vast experiences of Ghanaian electoral institutions and civic groups about how to deal with election disputes fairly and expeditiously.
Justice Philomena Mwilu, Kenya’s Deputy Chief Justice and Vice President of Kenya’s Constitutional Court, led the delegation which conferred with a number of state actors, including the Chief Justice, Mrs Georgina Theodora Wood.
Justice Mwilu said their visit was to learn and adopt dispute resolution mechanisms including mode of operations, legislative and administrative frameworks.
She said to members of Civic Forum Initiative that “everything you have told us is exactly what we want to hear, everything you have told us is very relevant and can only make us better”.
According to the committee Kenya has new election offences Act to address issues of electoral offences while systems are also in place to ensure that presidential election petitions are heard and determined within 14 days.
Professor Miranda Greenstreet, Co-chair of Coalition of Domestic Observers (CODEO), said Ghana had very active civil society organisations (CSOs) with common interest that make sure every electoral processes were made transparent to the interest of the parties.
She said during election period a number of stakeholder engagements were held for political parties, the Electoral Commission, the Judiciary, voters and all those who matter in the process to ensure a credible voter register and inclusion of qualified registered voters in the polling process.
Dr Emmanuel Akwetey, the Executive Director Institute for Democratic Governance (IDEG), said the judiciary and civil society groups usually carry out sustained public education and engagements for better understanding of the process.
He said the move has helped Ghana’s Judiciary to boost its relationship with the public and in a way assisted them in their delivery of justice and resolution of election conflicts.
The Judiciary is always prepared, he added, as they hold public forum and announce the number of courts that would be dealing with electoral grievances and dates of sittings including public holidays and weekends when the need arises.
Dr Kwesi Jonah, a Research Fellow at IDEG, added that the CSOs formed part of Ghana’s electoral reform committees and also have observer status at the interparty advisory committee level.
“That has come to modify behaviours and cool tempers at certain times,” he said.
The Judiciary has also developed election manual and that has also become a pretty material, he added.
Dr Kojo Asante, Researcher at the Centre for Democratic Development (CDD), advised that the Judiciary has to think of themselves as key referees in election and to dispel negative public perception.
He recalled how Ghana’s judiciary was dealt with the blow of corruption scandal in 2015 that nearly marred their image ahead of the country’s 2016 crucial polls.
“We have some huge issues with vigilantism where parties mobilise their own security who end up in interfering in election process through violence,” he added.
He also raised issues about abuse of incumbency, vote buying and other electoral offences but unfortunately “we don’t have the tools to deal with them, sentencing guidelines and electoral offences are the gaps we need to address”.
The Kenya Judiciary Committee on Elections had requested a meeting with CODEO, Star Ghana, Institute of Economic Affairs, Civic Forum Initiative, CDD and IDEG.
Their visit formed part of a benchmarking tour of selected countries to gain useful insights on how to handle election disputes.
Given the importance of election dispute resolution in each election cycle, the Judiciary of Kenya formed the committee in 2012 as a permanent one charged with the responsibility of building the capacity of judicial officers.
It was also to make the necessary administrative arrangements to enable the Judiciary discharge its mandate of resolving electoral conflicts in a fair and expeditious manner.
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