On December 7, 2024, Ghanaians will hopefully be going to the polls to elect a New President and two hundred and seventy-six Members of Parliament. The elections will be conducted and supervised by the Electoral Commission of Ghana.

Monitoring will be done by a host of local and international organisations that seek to preserve the sanctity, credibility, and the fairness of an elections. At the end of the day, it is the Electoral Commission (EC) of Ghana that has the right and the mandate to declare the winner of the election.

Ahead of the 2024 elections many things are happening on the political front. Civil society organisations are up on their feet reminding politicians and interested parties of the need for decency on campaign platforms, respect as well as decorum on all media platforms. All these are necessary for a free, fair, transparent, peaceful, and credible election.

The independent electoral commission of Ghana is required to remain independent, credible, trustworthy, and efficient in the discharge of its constitutionally assigned role as the arbiter of all elections in Ghana. In addition to this, the Electoral Commission is constantly being reminded of its responsibilities with regard to broader stakeholder engagement, proper and well thought-through consultations with all political parties, accurate and well-balanced reportage by the commission as well as political parties.

It is further necessary to ensure a restrained media that is not overly anxious and deliberately sensational in their reportage, as well as traditional and religious leaders who are level-headed, discreet, conscious, and sensitive to the needs and signs of the times. These and many are the things that we need as we go to the polls.
Unfortunately, during this “silly season” of electioneering, many things are possible for all manner of peoples and groups. What is actually troubling, and completely unwarranted is the religious undertones that seek to make God look like a Voter and an Electoral Commissioner in an election like ours. God is not a Ghanaian with a voter ID card in the hand.

It is honourable for Christians to pray to God for guidance and direction in all major decisions in life. With regard to education, future career, job, marriage and family life, travels, financial decisions, etc. they always pray for God’s guidance and direction. At the end of the day, whatever decision arrived at and whatever the outcome will be, is considered God’s best intervention.

Elections are no different from all these other major decisions we take as a people. It is a national decision that seeks to shape the future and destiny of a nation. It is a decision that even affects the future of the unborn.

If we accept in principle that the voice of the people is indeed the voice of God, then, it goes without say that those who will be elected as leaders are not only the choice of the people, but they are also chosen by God. In a constitutional democracy like Ghana, the Lord God will always choose leaders for the people through the ballot box.

One thing must be made clear and unambiguous; God does not force human beings to accept his will, neither does He force leadership on people. When Israel decided to choose a King to rule over them (1 Samuel 8:4ff), God was displeased because it amounted to a rejection of God himself, as King of Israel. And even though Samuel was not happy, God asked him to proceed to anoint Saul as the King of Israel. God has endowed human beings with all the necessary faculties to see, to hear, to read, to understand and to appreciate the policies of politicians, examine what these politicians have done in the past, and their plans for the future. God has also given us the wisdom and knowledge to judge and assess which politician is credible, trustworthy and serious about the development and future of Ghana. At the end of the day, we have been given the freewill to choose what is good for the future of Ghana. We should therefore come to terms with the fact that God will never dictate or force any leader on Ghanaians.

God has given every Ghanaian Voter the knowledge, the intelligence, and the freewill to take a decision on who leads Ghana. Whoever we choose as a President or Parliamentarian on December 7, therefore becomes the choice of God. God never forces leaders on people, He rather gives them choices, and the choice is ours on 7th December 2024 to carve a better future for ourselves. May the Lord bless our homeland Ghana and make it great and strong.

Francis Kwabena Gyabaah

Faculty of Catholic Theology

University of Vienna, Austria.