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Jonathan Opoku Prempeh, a Ghanaian resident in South Africa writes:
As history had taught us, the struggle for power can end with devastating consequences, if there is no trust, fairness, transparency and accountability. Sometimes, the consequences occur without warning; at other times, the warning bells ring loud and clear. Africa is replete with stories of such catastrophic endings as a result of power struggles.
We can mention the cases of Liberia, Burundi, Ivory Coast, Kenya and many other countries where hundreds and thousands of lives were lost over the quest for political power. When one side feels another side is abusing its power to the disadvantage of another group; or when the system is unfairly structured to favour one side over another; or as in the case of Ivory Coast, when a commissioner responsible for conducting impartial elections, is seen to be colluding with one side, then there is resistance which could ultimately lead to heart-breaking calamity.
How South Africa avoided conflict
History should, therefore, always guide our actions if we are to get it right. Coming from the back of the dehumanising apartheid and a barely hidden xenophobic tendency that is ready to erupt at the least opportunity, South Africa has had plenty of history of conflict to guide its march toward consolidating the democracy it began in 1994. The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) of South Africa had this history in mind when it conducted the country’s 2019 Presidential and Parliamentary elections.
It was the hottest contested election since the fall of apartheid, featuring hot-headed radical figures like Julius Malema of the Economic Fighters Front (EFF) and 47 other parties. Indeed, Chairperson of the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) of South Africa, Glen Mashinini described the 2019 South African elections as “the most complex, highly contested and logistically demanding elections ever.”
The fact that at the end of the elections, as many as 14 parties won seats in Parliament tells you the extent of the division in South Africa – at least along political lines. Yes, as many as 48 political parties presented themselves as alternatives to govern South Africa.
One striking development – and this is where Ghana and the Jean Mensa led-EC ought to draw lessons from – was that in spite of their division, sampled views of voters showed that about 96% of voters saw the elections as free and fair. 3% were indifferent and only 1% thought it wasn’t free and fair.
It is instructive to note that at the end of the elections, almost all South Africans did not have a problem with their Electoral Commission. In simple terms, the opposition parties and the governing party were all satisfied with the Electoral Commission before, during and after the elections. Because of the Independent Electoral Commission’s transparent and honest conduct of the electoral process before, during and after the elections, nobody had any issue with the electoral commission of that country.
The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) of South Africa made sure that they took on board the concerns of all the key stakeholders and that included the opposition parties.
Can the same be said of Ghana. Before, during and after Ghana’s election 2020, will all Ghanaians praise our EC? One side may lose a game of football but you know the contest was fair if no one remembered there was even a referee.
Sadly, for all the wrong reasons, the name of Ghana’s referee for the 2020 General elections, Madam Jean Mensa, is on the lips of everyone, not just the political parties.
EC can still deliver a people’s election, not an ECs election
But it is not too late for us to get back on track and go the South Africa way – the way our CSOs, our Nananom, and even key NPP figures like Lawyer Akoto Ampaw have advocated. Jean Mensa and her team of commissioners only need to retrace their steps to respect their own pledge and promise of integrity, and begin to build consensus with all stakeholders, so that they are all carried along.
The main bone of contention is that a significant number of Ghana’s eligible voting population stand to be disenfranchised and the fear is that this could lead to preventable civil strife. How about the EC doing a new register in 2021 when tensions would have calmed down and when Ghanaians would have had a better way of handling the coronavirus pandemic? The NPP won the 2016 election with a margin of about 1 million votes on this same register so they won’t have a problem contesting the 2020 elections with the same register that won them power. The NDC that lost seems content with the same register that caused their painful defeat.
It is not too late. We owe to Ghanaians to deliver an election that will be the people’s election, just like it is here in South Africa, and not the ECs election. At the end of it all, may we not remember the referee’s role but rather how we became more united in the course of delivering an election that is acceptable to all sides as free, fair and transparent.
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