A former National Security Coordinator under the erstwhile Kufuor administration, Francis Poku, is calling for fairness in the upcoming elections to avoid tension.
He says an electoral process devoid of fairness is full of tension and has called for the actions of the political parties to be checked to avoid tension.
The security expert believes ensuring a tension-free polls requires a seamless web of cooperation between all stakeholders, especially the political parties, to address concerns stemming out of the process.
Speaking on Agenda on TV3 Monday, December 02, 2024, Mr. Poku noted that although it is the responsibility of the Electoral Commission to conduct the polls, it lies on the security agencies to ensure the process is fair because “if the process is not fair, we are going to have tension in the country.”
“In discussions like this, we have to look at the whole environment. What are the tensions and who are the stakeholders? Currently we are looking at the situation in terms of the attitude of the various political parties,” he stated.
He continued that there are other interests in the upcoming polls outside the jurisdictions of the country with the belief that tension has taken over the nation.
“The perception abroad is that we are in a state of tension,” he said, adding that, “if all goes well, there shouldn’t be any problem but there are genuine fears that if we are not careful, we could have tensions and unrest. That is what the communications have been.”
He explained that the engagements the Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) has had with the political parties over the period has been more helpful, helping to bring out issues bothering the respective quarters to alleviate the tensions that could have summed up.
Ghana goes to the polls on Saturday, December 07, 2024, with 12 presidential candidates contesting. 276 representatives would also be elected as Members of Parliament for the constituencies. The election will be keenly contested between the governing New Patriotic Party and the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
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