Amid the anxiety and trepidation that the country could descend into chaos owing to the keen combat exhibited by the contesting political parties for the just-ended elections, Ghana again has come out the winner by going through relatively calm and highly patronised national elections.
The fact that Ghana was able to pass through these elections unscathed, apart from a few skirmishes around the country, has again proved to the whole world that Ghana is gradually being accepted as a mature democracy in Africa, which is a good omen.
The men in uniform exhibited a high sense of professionalism and sense of duty, while the electorate comported themselves and cast their ballots peacefully – except for the few isolated incidences that threatened to mar the exercise.
Even international election observers have testified to the mature manner in which Ghanaians cast their ballots and patiently waited for declaration of the results. Obviously, there was anxiety all over as the leading political parties took turns to announce press conference after press conference to point out that from the trends, even while collation was going on, they determined their lead and felt compelled to advise their supporters they should remain calm as victory was assured.
That notwithstanding, we believe the whole exercise – though it produced some tense moments – was generally a success and the will of the Ghanaian people has been determined. We want to congratulate the Electoral Commission, the security services, the media and all who in diverse ways made the eighth election of the Fourth Republic a resounding success.
Another issue that has caught our attention from the recent exercise is that the EC still records high numbers of spoilt ballots, and this is a concern since we have gone through this exercise eight times since inception of the Fourth Republic.
We believe this calls for more voter-education, and the NCCE is instrumental in this regard since it is mandated to disseminate civic responsibilities to the citizenry. We believe better education on such matters is crucial, especially during periods between elections.
On the whole, we can pat ourselves on the back for living up to the billing that Ghana is a bastion of democracy on a continent notorious for conflict and instability. We have proved against all odds that we cherish human worth, and that selecting a leader can be achieved without blood-letting.
