The West Africa Network for Peace (WANEP) has called for a second look at the involvement of the military in national elections and related exercises.
WANEP mentioned the voter registration exercise, the 2020 general elections, and the election of the new Speaker of Parliament as examples of events that saw heavy military presence.
Speaking at a Coalition of Domestic Election Observers (CODEO) workshop, the Director of Programmes at WANEP, Levina Adsae-Mensah called for a review of the practice.
“We saw the use of military throughout the 2020 electoral process and the associated anxiety, tension, and protests. We also saw what happened after the elections in Parliament. How do we address those? Is it an issue of communication or timing? We need to have a second look at these issues.”
Military involvement in Politics
In the run-up to the 2020 general elections, President Akufo-Addo was accused by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) flagbearer, John Dramani Mahama of the “discriminatory” use of military personnel to disenfranchise Ewes and other non-Akans.
His statement followed a report in which some military personnel were accused of preventing Ewes in Banda from taking part in the voter registration exercise.
The government was also accused of using military personnel to oppress voters during the December 2020 polls.
Again, during the dissolution of the 7th Parliament on January 7, 2021, there was a stand-off over the voting process for the Speaker as the NDC Caucus insisted on a secret ballot in the belief that there were some NPP MPs planning to vote for its nominated candidate.
For hours, scuffles broke out, led by the NDC legislators’ Whip, Muntaka Mubarak, who tried to make sure his opposing Whip was not policing ballots.
At the situation’s most intense moment, brawls broke out, with NDC MPs ransacking the voting areas and overturning the ballot box.
Armed military and police personnel then stormed Ghana’s Parliament adding to the chaos in what was one of the most jarring and shocking occurrences since Ghana returned to democratic rule.