GOVERNMENT WILL ENSURE PEACEFUL ELECTIONS IN 2024 – MINISTER
The Upper East Regional Minister, Hon. Stephen Yakubu, says government will ensure free, fair and peaceful elections in 2024.
He said President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo was committed to ensuring that no stone was left unturned.
He appealed to stakeholders to complement the government’s efforts in that regard, and play their respective roles to improve the conduct of elections in the country.
Hon. Yakubu said this at a two-day Regional Study Tour organized for the Ghana Armed Forces Command and Staff College (GAFCSC) in Bolgatanga.
The GAFCSC is made of 20 students and six staff.
The study tour was on the theme: “Assessing the long term prospects for Ghana’s democracy and economic development in the context of credible elections.”
The Regional Minister said the outcome of the Study Tour was crucial to entrench democratic dispensation in Ghana.
He said the findings of the study would further enrich efforts at realizing credible elections in 2024 and beyond.
Touching on some factors that undermined the credibility of elections results and fueled political violence, the Minister mentioned situations where political parties enrolled unqualified persons on to the voter’s register.
He said the high stakes in elections in the country, brought about mistrust between political parties and election management bodies which increased the tendency for political parties to resort to acts of violence before, during and after elections.
He added that as part of measures to address some negative factors, the President of Ghana through parliament disbanded vigilante groups and criminalized all forms of vigilantism related offences with the passage of the Act 999 of 2019.
In his appreciation message to the Upper East Regional Coordinating Council for the warm reception, Colonel Emmanuel E. Doke, the Chief Instructor of the Staff College, explained that the Study Tour was aimed to school the students on how political elections processes were organized.
The study was done in selected Regions including the Upper East, North East, Western, Greater Accra and Oti Regions.
He said the theme was intended to achieve and examine the political revolution and elections in Ghana and to understand how past elections had shaped the current electoral land scape.
The Electoral Commission (EC) did a power point presentation on the history of Ghana’s election, the structure of the EC, laws of elections in Ghana and other relevant information governing the electoral processing.
