Ghana Chalks Another Election  Milestone

With the political atmosphere being as hot as the planet Venus, many people, including the international community, thought the country was heading for the worst on December 7. Many peace talks, concerts, seminars and campaigns were held to drum home the message of peace and stability and that worked to perfection. Yesterday’s election is being described as one of the most peaceful in recent times, and the international observers have attested to this fact.

“Ghana’s elections are indeed ‘boring’. With all the noise that the parties were making, yesterday’s elections was one of the peaceful elections I have witnessed,” one of the international observers told The Chronicle.

“Ghana has used this election to demonstrate that it is, indeed, an epitome of peace and stability on the African Continent,” he said, adding, “the luxury with which some citizens cast their ballots was amazing.” He also observed that places that were even referred to as flashpoints were surprisingly as clam as any other normal polling centre. He, therefore, called on other African countries to emulate Ghana’s example.

Mr Issac Kwesi Ossuan, an Observer with the International Human Rights Commission, who did most of his observation work in the Gomoa West District in the Central Region, said, “The picture I can paint in most of the areas I visited is that of peaceful elections.”

Comparing yesterday’s elections to that of 2016, Mr Ossuan opined that tolerance for divergent views and human relations had improved greatly.

“Nothing untoward happened. It was peaceful from the morning through to the afternoon that I was there.”

He also said he was very impressed at the turnout he observed at most of the areas he visited, and said he was of the view that more people were going to show up getting to the close of polls.

Atmosphere at some polling stations

As expected, there were quite huge numbers of voters in the early hours of the morning, even before the Electoral Commission (EC) officials mounted their materials to commence the polls at 7:00am.

But by the time the clock ticked 10:00 am, most of these voters had cast their ballots and left the centre. This situation enabled those who went to the polling centres after 10:00am to cast their votes within some few minutes.

Some of the EC’s presiding officers attributed it to the increase in the number polling stations at the various polling centres. They, hence, advocated that subsequent elections should be organised in the same way.

Massive Voter Turnouts

Most of the presiding officers, who spoke to The Chronicle, indicated that the majority of the registered voters showed up to cast their ballots. At the Mary Mother of Good Counsel polling stations 1A Ayawaso West Wuogon Constituency, 270 out of 394 registered voters had cast their ballots, while 290 out of 392 registered voters had cast their ballots.

The situation wasn’t different at the King of Kings Polling station (1), also in the Ayawaso West Wuogon Constituency. Mr KwakuYamaoh, Presiding Officer, also told this paper that as at 2:00pm that 640 registered voters were expected to cast their ballots, and 218 had voted at the time.

At the Bethel Baptist Church polling station A1 in the Ablekuma South Constituency, 250 out of 441 registered voters had cast their ballots, while 165 out of 447 had cast their ballots at A2 as at 11:00am.

Advocacy to observe holidays on National Election Day

Many people who spoke to this paper attributed the high voter turnout at yesterday’s polls to the declaration of the day as a holiday by the government.

It would be recalled that the President Akufo-Addo, through an Executive Instrument, declared Monday, December 7 a public holiday. He said the decision was to facilitate the electoral process which will be conducted amidst the Covid-19 pandemic.

According to the Presidency, the move would also ensure the strict observance of the safety protocols on election day, and enable registered voters to exercise their franchise in safety and with minimal inconvenience.

According to some Ghanaians, the holiday really helped them to exercise their franchise, hence, it should be maintained

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