On October 11th, FOSDA and CDD-Ghana, hosted a National Election Security Roundtable with support from partners WANEP and the European Union, This initiative, organised under the auspices of the National Election Response Group (NERG), aims to promote transparency by ensuring that civil society, political parties, and the public are well-informed about security plans, promoting a peaceful environment for the December 2024 elections .Mrs. Theodora Williams Anti, the Executive Director of FOSDA, opened the meeting by fostering a collaborative and engaging atmosphere for productive discussions. She emphasized the need for transparency, fairness and inclusiveness in the management of election security as key to improving public trust.
The meeting was Chaired by Professor E. Gyimah-Boadi, along with Dr. Kojo Asante (CDD) and Mrs. Levinea Addae-Mensah (WANEP) as event moderators. The session also featured guest speakers, including ACP Victoria Yamoah, Director of the Ghana Police Election Security Secretariat, Major General JA Aphour of the Ghana Armed Forces, and Mr. Sam Williams Yeboah, the Executive Secretary of the National Commission on Small Arms (NACSA).
In his acceptance speech, Professor E. Gyimah-Boadi emphasized the high stakes of ensuring election quality, warning against the risk of citizens losing faith in democracy. He underscored the need to address fairness, equity, and balance, ensuring the elections meet standards of transparency and accountability for all stakeholders. Dr. Kojo Asante provided detailed briefing on key public security concerns. These included fairness and equity in the allocation and use of security resources, deployment of military during elections, post-election accountability and prosecution of violent offenses from 2020 elections, political vigilantism and the enforcement of the anti-vigilantism act and responding to misinformation and disinformation with balance.
ACP Victoria Yamoah of the Ghana Police in response reiterated that the Election Security Task Force is committed to securing political activities for all parties. She emphasized the need for collaboration among all stakeholders, including citizens, to enhance overall security. Major General JA Aphour of the Ghana Armed Forces on his part, emphasized the need to focus on de-escalation and conflict resolution and to update the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for election security, even though adaptation can be challenging due to existing training protocols. Mr. Sam Williams Yeboah, in his intervention, warned against the use of arms in and around polling centre and informed the meeting about NACSA's interventions on ensuring election peace and security for 2024 elections.
In concluding the meeting Mrs Levinea Addae-Mensah of WANEP admonished that while Ghana has made significant strides in establishing a peaceful electoral environment, it is crucial to recognize both the ongoing efforts and challenges that persist. Facilitating effective communication and information dissemination among stakeholders will be vital in addressing these challenges and ensuring a secure, transparent, and democratic electoral process. By continuing to collaborate and adapt, Ghana can further strengthen its commitment to upholding democratic principles and enhancing the trust of its citizens in the electoral system.
