In less than three months from now, Ghana will go to the polls on December 7, 2008 to elect a new leader who will take over from John Agyekum Kuffour as President of the Republic of Ghana. To all intents and purposes, the conduct of the elections is of prime importance to all Ghanaians because it stands to test the political maturity of Ghana as a nation at 50.

Fifty years in the life of a nation signifies wisdom, maturity, experience, confidence, and self-awareness. These are the qualities that the world expects Ghana to demonstrate during and after the elections. As a nation, we have been able to hold ourselves together in a peaceful constitutional environment against the backdrop of political violence in other parts of Africa. This has been a significant milestone in the Nation’s history. To be able to consolidate on these gains and prove to the international community that Ghana has matured politically will depend on our ability to conduct peaceful, free and fair elections on December 7.

In a continent driven by political impropriety, the conduct of internationally acceptable elections has always been a daunting task. Across the length and breath of Africa lies an endless history of election malpractices associated with wanton destruction of life and properties, deprivation and abuse. Without doubt, election malpractices and its associated violence has become a more serious problem in Africa, yet African leaders have failed in addressing these issues. The reason they have found it harder to address these problems is because many of them came to power through election malpractices.

Ghana is noted as a pace-setter in the sub-region of West Africa. As we prepare to go to the polls in December 2008, the attention of the whole world will be focused on us as a nation. The international communities have high expectations that we will be able to once again, conduct a free and fair elections that will serve as a shining example for other countries in Africa to learn from. To achieve this high expectation, it is critically important for all stakeholders, especially the political parties and Electoral Commission of Ghana to demonstrate a sincere commitment to integrity and obedience to electoral standards. We must all strive, as a nation, to hold peaceful, free and fair elections unprecedented in the history of Ghana to show our maturity and dynamism in the arena of political progress in Africa.

In this direction, the government and EC of Ghana has a major role to play. To enable the EC to do its job, government must support it financially and materially without ever trying to influence the conduct of their operations. The Commission on the other hand, must focus all its resources to ensure the conduct of a peaceful and fair election. It must shun any attempt to be influenced by the government, political candidates or their agents.

It is important to remind ourselves that the peace which we now enjoy as a nation has been achieved at a great cost. We therefore want this peaceful atmosphere to rule and reign during and after the December elections.

To this end, political leaders and their supporters must endeavor to show level-headedness in their utterances and behaviors during campaigning. Negative tendencies based on tribal sentiments should be avoided. After all, winning an election does not rest on mere rhetoric and deceitful propaganda. It is the ability to demonstrate concern for the well-being of the electorate that gets them motivated. Our politicians must therefore learn to spend their energy in convincing the electorate on how well they have managed the people they rule; what level of support they have given to the communities in which they operate; what has been their involvement in supporting lower-income or economically distressed communities, and the extent to which they have incorporated the needs of the people into their programs.