Some civil society organizations including the Centre for Conflict Resolution-Ghana (CENCOR) have criticized the electoral commission for denying them accreditation to be election observers.
The groups said that the participation of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in the elections through the deployment of Electoral Commission (EC) accredited election observers, both domestic and international, has always been a critical tool for assuaging the anxieties of members of the political parties to resort to violence because of a loss of confidence in the credibility of the elections.
It is therefore rather surprising and worrying that the EC Chairperson, Mrs Jean Mensah, |”has resorted to an arbitrary and dictatorial denial of accreditation to several domestic CSOs that have applied to the EC for accreditation to deploy Election Observers to the polling stations during the December 2024 elections.”
Addressing a press conference in Accra on Tuesday, November 12, Convener of the Civil Society Coalition, Adib Sani said that “We, vehemently decry this singular arbitrary act by Mrs Jean Mensah, someone who was propelled by her Civil Society credentials, as a major fault line that seeks to undermine the credibility of the 2024 elections.
“It is indeed a grievous affront to the democracy it has taken all of us so much effort to build. Mrs Jean Mensah’s unjustified denial of accreditation to the CSOs is not only a breach of the rights of our organizations to participate and contribute to ensuring the free, fair, and credible electoral process that the EC itself professes to espouse, but also raises critical questions about the EC’s commitment to an open and democratic election process.
“It is not only surprising but really worrying that the EC Chairperson could act with such impunity as to disrespect organizations that have with EC accreditation deployed Observers for every single election since 2008 and having contributed to ensuring the integrity of the vote with a terse five-line, four-sentence letter which abruptly declares that: “The Commission is unable to accept your application at this time,’.”
Below is the full address he presented during the press conference…
Joint Statement: Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) denied EC accreditation by Jean Mensah to deploy Election Observers.
Ghana has less than 30 days to what could be its most consequential elections in recent history. The issues of non-intimidation, transparency, accountability, and credibility of the electoral process have always been major determinants of whether elections in Ghana are free, fair, peaceful and devoid of violence and killings.
The participation of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in the elections through the deployment of Electoral Commission (EC) accredited election observers, both domestic and international, has always been a critical tool for assuaging the anxieties of members of the political parties to resort to violence because of a loss of confidence in the credibility of the elections. It is therefore rather surprising and worrying that the EC Chairperson, Mrs Jean Mensah, has resorted to an arbitrary and dictatorial denial of accreditation to several domestic CSOs that have applied to the EC for accreditation to deploy Election Observers to the polling stations during the December 2024 elections.
We, the undersigned CSOs, vehemently decry this singular arbitrary act by Mrs Jean Mensah, someone who was propelled by her Civil Society credentials, as a major fault line that seeks to undermine the credibility of the 2024 elections. It is indeed a grievous affront to the democracy it has taken all of us so much effort to build. Mrs Jean Mensah’s unjustified denial of accreditation to the CSOs is not only a breach of the rights of our organizations to participate and contribute to ensuring the free, fair, and credible electoral process that the EC itself professes to espouse, but also raises critical questions about the EC’s commitment to an open and democratic election process.
It is not only surprising but really worrying that the EC Chairperson could act with such impunity as to disrespect organizations that have with EC accreditation deployed Observers for every single election since 2008 and having contributed to ensuring the integrity of the vote with a terse five-line, four-sentence letter which abruptly declares that: “The Commission is unable to accept your application at this time.”
What is different this time? What has the EC Chairperson got to hide? What is eating her up? As a credible source within the ECs Her unilateral decision against the views of her peers on the matter really introduces a troubling cloud over the whole electoral process of Ghana and undermines the principles of inclusiveness, fairness and transparency that the EC is mandated to uphold.
Under the circumstances, we, the undersigned CSOs, pose the following questions to the EC:
- On what grounds is the EC withholding accreditation to the CSOs for the 2024 elections?
- Does the EC acknowledge that this move will heighten public skepticism and reduce the credibility of the election process?
- What mechanisms, if any, has the EC put in place to assure citizens of a free and fair election in the absence of CSO observers?
It is to be emphasized that this denial, which smacks of impunity and lack of prudence by Mrs Jean Mensah has far-reaching consequences both for the state and for her as a person. The deployment of Observers contributes to transparency and credibility of the vote by ensuring, a lower risk of electoral fraud, vote tampering, and manipulation, which all undermine the legitimacy of the election results and threaten the peace and stability of the nation.
Under the circumstances, we urge the Electoral Commission as an Institution, to immediately rescind the unilateral decision of Mrs Jean Mensah and grant accreditation to all qualified CSOs that have applied to deploy Observers during the 2024 the elections.
List of CSOs and Assignees follow.
- CENCOR
- JATIKAY CENTRE
- HSRCGh
- FESF Foundation
