Security analyst, Adib Saani, has attributed the electoral violence witnessed during the just-ended elections to the lack of trust in the Electoral Commission (EC) to conduct free, fair, and credible elections.

Speaking to Etsey Atisu on Election Desk on GhanaWeb, Saani emphasised that trust in the electoral process is a crucial ingredient for a peaceful election.

“I’m a political scientist. I studied political science at Legon, and I’ve done a lot of work on elections in other countries. And I do know one critical ingredient to add to the soup to make it taste good during an election is trust and confidence in the process,” he stated.

The Executive Director of Jatikay Human Security and Peace further observed that much of the violence that erupted could be traced back to people’s deep-seated mistrust in the EC.

According to him, Civil Society Organisations are trusted more than politicians, as they are perceived to operate independently of political affiliations.

“We said, as civil society, the people listen to us more than they listen to the politicians. When we talk, they believe us because we are with them. We don’t do politics. We say it as it is. So, if you give us the opportunity to observe, whatever people’s perception is, we would come out and tell them, no, it was done well,” he explained.

Saani also raised concerns about the neutrality of some EC officials, citing remarks by a deputy EC Chairperson describing the NDC as a threat to democracy.

“How can a deputy boss, Bossman, say NDC is a threat to democracy? No matter what the NDC does, I mean, he’s expected to be neutral. Exactly. I mean, sometimes they get on your nerve. Perhaps you deal with it carefully,” he remarked.

He also made mention of a specific incident regarding accreditation for civil society groups, accusing the EC of denying them access without providing valid reasons, despite their efforts to comply with the EC's procedures.

“We were denied the accreditation, and they said a lot of lies. I mean, I told him in the face on UTV. I said, you are lying. Okay? Because they said, ‘Oh, there were a lot of civil societies that had applied, and we couldn’t give all.’ So what criteria did you use? Because before the election, I was in Tamale, and our representatives were at the EC headquarters. Then they were told to come the following day at 9 a.m. Okay, 9 a.m. they were there. They sat until 6 p.m. 9 a.m. to 6 to 6 p.m.", he explained.

The December 7, 2024, general elections was marred by pockets of violence across the country.

Three individuals were shot at Kasoa in the Awutu Senya East Constituency of the Central Region, leaving one dead and two in critical condition.

One person was also shot dead in a shooting incident at Nyankpala in the Tolon Constituency of the Northern Region.

JKB/AE

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