Kandifo Institute, a public policy and analytical research think tank, has launched a non-partisan election watch website to provide a one-stop-centre for election data analyses ahead of election 2020.
The project dubbed ‘Ghana Election Watch’, seeks to serve as a platform that will provide historical electoral data, all election news, facts and credible opinion polls to electorate to enable them make informed decision on who to vote for on election day.
Executive Director of Kandifo Institute, Palgrave Boakye-Danquah, in his address, stated that electioneering is a way people can choose their candidate or their preferences in a representative democracy, a clear indication that elections are important to the development agenda but if not handled properly may plunge the values of the country into the gutters.
“Ghana Election Watch is a vital tool in providing essential election related information and news to electorates. Ghana has recorded several gains since it returned to multi-party democracy after almost 12 years under military rule. Ghana can further deepen its gains as it goes to the polls for the eighth time, in 2020.
The country has matured from a fledgling democracy to a beacon for many African countries. Despite, the many successes achieved since the return to multi-party democracy, the values of the country may plunge into the gutters if the discourse is not properly steered,” he said.
In addition, he indicated that the main challenge of development today is leadership, hence the kind of leadership a country has determines the extent of progress it makes. Therefore, it is imperative for any country desirous of meaningful development to have good leaders.
“That is why Kandifo Institute seeks to prepare and empower young people for future leadership in an ideological path of conservatism, free market, libertarianism, advocacy, public policy and analytical research,” he emphasised.
Dr. Kodjo Mensah-Abrampa, Advisory Board Chairman and member of Kandifo Institute, touted the initiative and advised that such projects should always be based on facts, knowledge, data and experience rather than party sentiments.
“It is important to have such initiatives in our country because it will bring to the forefront evidence based discuss which will put the political parties on their toes to be mindful of the promises and demagogic tendencies during campaign and in their manifesto.
I am someone who likes playing with data and so providing all these data and analysis in a simplified way for the public understanding was important and I will do further analysis in my private time to ascertain possible swings,” he indicated.
The data oriented website has historical election data from 1992 to date. These data are broken down further with analytical tools such as graphs and charts to provide in-depth information on parties, presidential candidates, as well as regional and district breakdowns.
Globally, there will be 113 general elections from seven continents in 2020, 19 of those elections would be held in Africa and election watch initiatives are key in educating electorates to make an informed decision on who to vote for on the election day. The URL to the website is https://ghanaelectionwatch.com.
