Michael Donyina Mensah, Executive Director of the Centre for Public Opinion and Awareness (CenPOA), has asserted that electoral violence in Ghana would be nonexistent if politicians adhered to the law.
Referring to the upcoming Akwatia By-election on September 2, 2025, he noted that politicians are responsible for generating tension and trouble, subsequently placing blame on law enforcement.
He contended that deploying 5,000 police officers to the area would create an atmosphere of fear, tension, and apprehension, ultimately deterring voter participation.
Mr. Donyina Mensah emphasised that instilling fear and panic among citizens to suppress their voting rights is the most detrimental aspect of a democracy.
He attributed these issues to politicians pursuing individual and personal interests.
“We agreed as a country to practice democracy and not military rule. However, it seems to me that I am seeing more guns in our democracy compared to our military rule. The politicians are the ones who create the problems and then blame the police for not doing its job properly. Deploying 5,000 police officers to the Akwatia by-election is not the democracy we learned from the West; this will only create fear and make people withdraw from voting. The most dangerous thing in a democracy is stripping people of their ability to cast their vote. There are those who will not vote in the by-election because of what they’ve heard. The politicians who have the control are pretending that these issues are coming from elsewhere, but they are the ones who create these problems.”
He criticised politicians for flagrantly violating electoral laws.
“They’re supposed to halt all campaign activities 24 hours before an election, and no political activity is allowed at polling stations. Yet, these politicians brazenly break the rules, moving from one station to another on election day, surrounded by people who have no business being there.”
“About 99 percent of the violent activities, including the deaths of some people, happened at polling stations because politicians disregarded electoral laws,” he said. He added that while the political parties’ campaigns went off without a hitch, election day saw all sorts of violence because politicians didn’t follow the law.
“These issues keep occurring because our politicians are greedy, selfish, and interested in their personal benefits, not in the peace, stability, and growth of the country. The violent attacks are caused by the politicians, and they must bow their heads in shame. The danger is that when these things happen, investors withdraw from Ghana and we also drop in the global peace index, so the best way to deal with the challenge is for our politicians to abide by the law. If our politicians are interested in the peace of the country, they should use the Akwatia By-election as a test case and ensure that we don’t witness any violence.”
He urged those who have no business with the election in Akwatia to stay away and allow those involved to conduct the polls peacefully.
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
