Civil Society groups in the country have called on the Electoral Commission as well as political parties to take the necessary steps to solve all disagreements as regards the just-ended presidential and parliamentary polls.
The coalition, comprising sixteen organizations, in a statement on matters arising after the declaration of the 2020 election results condemned all acts of violence during the polls and recommended that security services immediately launch investigations into all reported crimes and prosecute perpetrators involved.
The group, however, commended all the key stakeholders including the EC, political parties, citizens, and the media for their commitment towards ensuring generally peaceful polls.
The statement noted “remind the leaders of the two (2) major political parties to respect and fulfill the pledges they signed in the Presidential Election Peace Pact, which includes not just a commitment to promoting peaceful elections but also a pledge to resort to judicial resolutions to address all election disputes.
“Encourage political parties to tell their members to refrain from any violence, to stay calm, and to follow the laid down procedures provided to challenge the election result.”
It added “finally propose that key stakeholders to the elections, should subsequently be convened by the EC to brainstorm and find permanent solutions to the gaps and errors that have emerged during these elections and to update existing electoral laws, policies and procedures with agreed recommendations such that we prevent a future re-occurrence of such challenges.”
The statement was signed by the following organizations: Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition, Citizens Movement Against Corruption, IMANI-Ghana, Penplusbytes, Africa Centre for Energy Policy, Ghana Integrity Initiative, Media Foundation for West Africa, and SEND Ghana.
Others are Africa Centre for International Law and Accountabilit0y, Renel Ghana Foundation, CFF-Ghana, MAPnet Ghana, Lamaconsult Foundation, Nkosec93 Foundation, Youth Bridge Foundation, and ABAK Foundation Ghana
Source: Starrfm.com.gh