Executive Director of the Alliance for Christian Advocacy Africa (ACCA), Rev Dr. Opuni- Frimpong has called for a threshold to ascertain who qualifies to be on the Presidential ballot sheet in Ghana’s elections.

According to him, the ability of the candidate vying for a slot on the ballot paper must not be tied to them being able to pay their nomination fee to the Electoral Commission.

“I think, with what we have observed, something should be done to a party that is unable to meet a certain threshold for two or three consecutive elections. As of now, when you collect the ballot sheet, it is very long and at the end of the day, you see the performance, some of them could not even get 500 votes in the whole country,” he posited.

Rev. Dr Kwabena Opuni-Frimpong made this known in an interview with the Daily Graphic after providing initial findings of the observer teams of 100 pastors deployed in eight regions to observe the just ended general election held on December 7, 2020.

He further questioned the justification for the use national resources on candidates and their respective parties that could not make a significant impact on the election outcome.

Meanwhile, some smaller political parties on the other hand have rejected similar calls for the reduction of the parties and candidates on the ballot sheet.

The People Convention Party and the National Democratic Congress for instance have described any reduction in the number as “a recipe for disaster.”

They claim their existence serves as checks and balance on the two major political parties, National Democratic Congress and the New Patriotic Party.

Source: www.ghanaweb.com

A faith-based organisation, the Alliance for Christian Advocacy Africa (ACAA), is proposing a threshold to determine who qualifies to be on the presidential ballot paper apart from the ability to pay the GH¢100,000.

“I think, with what we have observed, something should be done to a party that is unable to meet a certain threshold for two or three consecutive elections.

“As of now, when you collect the ballot sheet, it is very long and at the end of the day, you see the performance, some of them could not even get 500 votes in the whole country,” the Executive Director of the ACAA, Rev. Dr Kwabena Opuni-Frimpong, said in an interview with the Daily Graphic in Accra last Sunday.

Rev. Dr Opuni-Frimpong was sharing the preliminary findings of the observer teams of 100 pastors deployed in eight regions to observe the general election held on December 7, 2020.

Reaction

But the National Democratic Party (NDP) and the People’s National Convention (PNC), have rejected suggestions for any reduction of the number of political parties or presidential candidates describing it as a “recipe for disaster” if the country is reduced to only the two political parties.

They insisted that the smaller political parties held a check on the two political parties, saying that if nothing at all, the state should take up the responsibility of paying party agents for all political parties in all the polling stations.

Findings

Rev. Dr Opuni-Frimpong questioned the rationale for deploying national resources and energy on political parties that could not make any impact on the elections.

He said the poor showing of the smaller parties, not only on the ballot sheet, but their visibility at the polling stations should be a cause for concern.

Rev. Dr Opuni-Frimpong said even though there was the need to give space for other political parties in the country to deepen the democratic path of the country,  “those presidential candidates must come with some level of seriousness”.

He wondered how a presidential candidate of a serious political party could make any meaningful impact if he could not afford to recruit agents to be at the various polling stations.

Worrying development

Rev. Dr Opuni-Frimpong said at all the polling stations where the ACAA deployed its observers, only the agents of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) were present to sign the pink sheet.

He described it as a worrying development because there was a genuine reason for which the Constitution mandated that all political parties should have agents at all the polling stations.

“Now, when we finished the elections, the issues are now between the NPP and the NDC and the observer groups. But we need the other parties to come out and tell us something, for instance, during the counting, what did they see?

“They were not there to sign the forms and so, the challenges we are having now, these smaller parties cannot be part of the conversation now because they were not there at the polling stations because they did not sign,” he pointed out.

Rev. Dr Opuni-Frimpong said the performance of the smaller parties called for further deliberation moving into the future, as to “what do we do with political parties that are not able to present party agents at the polling stations?”

Political pluralism

The General Secretary of the NDP, Alhaji Mohammed Frimpong, who described the nomenclature of “smaller parties” as misplaced, stated that democracy strove in an environment of pluralism.

He explained that in pluralism, “we do not expect all the political parties to have equal resources and status to be able to participate”.

“Without the smaller political parties, there will not be any democracy and that is what the country must understand. As a matter of fact, we will have what I call, an autocratic duopoly,” he said.

State funding

He called for state funding for political parties by paying agents recruited by political parties to deepen the democratic governance.

Supporting the position of Alhaji Frimpong on the state funding of political parties, the presidential candidate of the PNC, Mr David Apasera, insisted that the political parties were supporting the state to entrench democratic principles.

He proposed that as part of its responsibilities, the recruitment of the agents should be handled by the EC, questioning what the EC would have done if there were no agents at the polling stations.

“For me, I think the political system that we are embarking on, unless we agree that the state should come in at a point at least to level the playing field for all parties by paying party agents, we are heading for disaster,” he said.

The Alliance for Christian Advocacy Africa (ACAA), a faith-based organisation, has entreated church leaders to provide pastoral care for losing candidates in the December 7 general election.

“We are calling on church leaders to provide pastoral care for politicians even after the elections. We must still journey with them and help them in the hurt. Some are grieving, and yet we leave them alone,” the Executive Director of the alliance, Rev. Dr Kwabena Opuni-Frimpong, made the call in an interview with the Daily Graphic in Accra over the weekend.

About 100 pastors from the ACAA were accredited by the Electoral Commission (EC) as domestic election observers and deployed in eight out of the 16 regions to observe the elections.

The ACAA is a network of individual Christian leaders with varied professional and academic backgrounds who feel concerned about the current disconnect between the massive Christian presence and matters of public policy and sustainable development.

Rev. Dr Opuni-Frimpong said it was the considered view of the group that churches and church leaders could play the central role of ensuring that in the next four years, the Odododiodio Constituency in Accra, for instance, would no longer be considered a hotspot, “and that should start from here”.

Preliminary report

Giving a preliminary report on the findings of the group before, during and after the 2020 general election, he said it was the opinion of the group that “the peace process should not end with the declaration of the results, else every four years we will continue to have hotspots”.

“We believe that even after the elections, we should not stop the peace campaign, we should not only ask defeated candidates to accept the results but also provide them pastoral care,” he added.

Observations

Rev. Dr Opuni-Frimpong said members of the group observed how voting was conducted, how collation was carried out at the constituency and the regional levels and how results were declared.

“In all, we were looking for how free and fair the system would be. We are yet to give our final report, but we can say that even though some of the regions recorded violence, which was unfortunate, on the whole, we consider the elections as free, fair and peaceful,” he said

He said the position of the alliance that the elections were generally free, fair and peaceful was not without admission that there were delays in some polling stations and some other challenges.

While commending the EC for increasing the number of polling stations to reduce the usual long queues, he cited poor lighting at some of the polling stations during counting as one of the challenges observed by the group.

He suggested that the closing time of voting should be brought forward to 4 p.m., instead the 5 p.m., to ensure that counting was done before darkness set in.

Dr Opuni-Frimpong said at some polling centres, visibility was so poor that some people had to put on their vehicle headlamps for counting to continue, “and we find this worrying”.

Immediate Past Chairman of the National Peace Council Rev. Professor Emmanuel Asante has advised the Ghanaian electorate to desist from being used as pawns by politicians to gain their votes.

According to Rev. Asante, the Ghanaian electorate must be measured in their dealings with persons or politicians who will try to influence them with gifts, money to gain political favours.

Speaking on Dr Opuni Frimpong’s “What is Next” segment on Ghana Television, Rev. Asante advised, “Do not collect money and allow that money to induce you to vote for a particular person or political party.

“I’m told that some persons while voting at the polling station try to snap a picture of their ballot only to show to the person who has promised them some money and there’s absolutely no reason why one should be doing that,” Rev Asante cautioned.

Rev. Asante urged the Ghanaian electorate to exercise their civic duty by voting based on their preference and their conscience.

Meanwhile, a pre-election survey conducted by the Centre for Democratic Development has shown that a majority of Ghanaians said they will be willing to take money from political parties but it will not, in turn, influence their votes.

A Director of Research at the Centre, Dr. Edem Selormey during the launch of the report in October this year 2020 said further results revealed that cash transactions have overwhelmed and dominated vote-buying schemes in the upcoming 2020 polls.

“44 percent said they will take money offered and vote for the candidate of their choice while 33 percent said they will refuse the money offered and also vote for the candidate of their choice,” the report revealed.

However, Ghanaians will on Monday, December 7, 2020, go to the polls to elect a President and Members of Parliament as part of four year constitutional mandate.

Former Vice Chancellor of the University of Cape Coast, Rev Prof Emmanuel Adow Obeng, has commended the security agencies for identifying possible flashpoints across the country ahead of the December polls.

According to him, this is indication that the security agencies and the electoral management bodies are concerned about the safety of Ghanaians.

However, he was quick to call for the enforcement of appropriate measures ahead of time in order to avert possible chaos.

Speaking in an interview with Rev Dr Kwabena Opuni-Frimpong on ‘What Is Next?’ he said “Identifying as flashpoints in my view is a step in the right direction but what do you do with that information…we don’t wait until its two weeks or one week to elections before we take any actions…No…”

He argued that at this point security agencies should have already implemented mechanisms to diffuse the tension in such areas.

Rev Prof Emmanuel Adow Obeng also advised that going forward, the government and security agencies must take years to layout plans and not just weeks. By way of organizing public sensitization programmes and education to address the issue.

As part of preparations toward the upcoming December polls, the Ghana Police Service in October released a list of some constituencies across the country which are prone to various levels of violence and discrepancies.

Ashanti Region came top with 635 identified hotspots including; Offinso North, Asawase, Effiduase/Asokore, Ejura/Sekyedumase, and Bantama as top five.

In Bono Region, 192 hotspots have been identified with Tain, Jaman South, Banda, and Wenchi as top four.

Other areas like Bono East and Ahafo regions have been noted to have 118 and 80 hotspots, respectively.

Rev. Opuni Frimpong, former General Secretary of the Christian Council of Ghana has asked pastors to speak truth to power and be fearless in claiming accountability from politicians.

According to him, politicians have taken the people for granted for a very long time and it’s time they are made to account for their stewardship.

He made this known when he spoke in an interview with Accra-based Adom TV monitored by MyNewsGh.com.

To him, he has seen Members of Parliament (MPs) parading Churches and canvassing for votes ahead of the 2020 election and thinks it’s time Pastors question them on what they have done in the term they enjoyed before they are given the opportunity to campaign in their churches.

“The time has come for Pastor and Chiefs to demand accountability. They should ask the MPs what they have done to make lives better during their terms and why they are seeking for reelection. We must speak truth to power, Pastors must speak truth to power. These kinds of political prophecies must stop.”

These politicians will leave their constituencies after they’ve been voted and when they come back they will bring the people salt and bags of rice, cement which means that they are taking the people for granted. We should be careful because the youth will rise up in the coming days”.

The Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference has called on Ghanaian politicians to avoid making campaign promises to the electorate that they know they cannot fulfil when they assume the reins of power.

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference made the comment in a communiqué issued at the end of its annual Plenary Assembly held at Keta in the Volta Region’

It was held from Tuesday, 3 November to Thursday, 13 November 2020.

The Plenary Assembly was held under the theme: ‘The Word of God: Christian Formation for Transformation in Ghana.’

According to the Catholic Bishops’ Conference, making unachievable promises to the electorate is tantamount to deceit.

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference also urged politicians and their supporters to “avoid hate-filled statements and expressions that elicit revenge and vendetta.”

The Bishops further called on “party leaders, parliamentary and presidential candidates to conduct themselves honourably and to respect their opponents both in their utterances and actions.”

Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, King of the Asante Kingdom, has reaffirmed his commitment to promoting responsible environmental practices to restore water bodies in the Kingdom to their natural state.

He said the Kingdom’s rural economy was highly dependent on agriculture, forestry, and fishery sectors, hence, making land resources including forests, natural habitats, and water bodies critical for growth.

The Asantehene who was speaking during a courtesy call on him by the Minister for Environment, Science, Technology, and Innovation, Prof. Kwabena Frimpong Boateng, said forestry and agriculture accounted for 53 per cent of land use and employed about 60 per cent of the population in the Kingdom.

Prof. Frimpong-Boateng was accompanied by technical heads from agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), COCOBOD, Forestry Commission (FC), and its various divisions.
The team was at the Manhyia Palace to explore a possible collaboration with the Asantehene in the implementation of the Asante Kingdom Land Restoration Programme.

The programme seeks to adopt Asante traditional ecological knowledge through appropriate socio-cultural land management practices to protect forests and water bodies in the Kingdom.

It is also promoting the use of climate-smart agriculture technologies to build the resilience of smallholder farmers within the cash and food crops landscapes targeted under the project.

The programme, which began in 2019 with the target of planting three million trees on 4,000 hectares of land around Lake Bosomtwe over five years is a collaboration between the Manhyia Palace and Oheneba Poku Foundation.

Lake Bosomtwe has since 2016 been designated a Biosphere Reserve Site by the United Nations, Education, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) to promote a healthy balance between biodiversity conservation and its sustainable use, following an appeal by the Asantehene for the protection of the lake.

Otumfuo was hopeful that the project would contribute to improved ecosystem service provision, climate change mitigation, and improved environmental consciousness among inhabitants of fringe communities around the lake.

He entreated the Minister and other relevant stakeholders to join Asanteman not only to protect Ghana’s only natural lake but other water bodies to preserve the environment for posterity.

The Minister who also visited the Lake to inspect the progress of work commended Otumfuo for the bold initiative to protect the lake and restore its glorious past.

He said the volume of water in the lake had receded over the years due to human activities and applauded Otumfuo for the timely intervention to save the lake from further destruction.

He said his Ministry would team up with Otumfuo to preserve the lake and leverage the success of the project to replicate it in other parts of the country for sustainable protection of the environment across the country.

Fred Kyei Sapong, Coordinator of the Project, said it was in line with several global and national policies, plans, and strategies that focused on water bodies and halting deforestation caused by human activities.

He said the visit by the Minister confirmed the modest gains made by the project and the need for more work to be done to reverse the wanton land degradation to unlock the development potential of the project areas.

Immediate past Chairman of the National Peace Council (NPC), Most Rev. Professor Emmanuel Asante has entreated young people of Ghana ahead of the December 7, 2020, general election to rise up and stand for peace and for the nation.

According to him, the young people should look beyond being foot soldiers for political parties who are being used to do all sorts things which are untoward and rather position themselves and aspire to ride V8 as the older the politicians.

Addressing the various youth groups as part of this year’s African Youth Day Celebration organized by the National Youth Authority to accomplish a section of the local theme “A Peaceful Ghana: Rhetoric, Realities and the Youth Factor” at Bank of Ghana Hall, Most Rev. Asante told the teaming young people during the Youth Peace Dialogue and Signing of Peace Charter to engage the future now.

He reminded the young people at the Bank of Ghana Hall that they cannot inherit the future as has widely been mentioned if they do not have today; thus, if today is destroyed, there will be no tomorrow, urging the youth to channel the future in the present.

“There is something that you keep saying that the future is for the young people but I don’t buy that; if you do not have today, you don’t have tomorrow. Destroy today and there will be no tomorrow and so you channel the future in the present; the future will only be yours if you are able to hold on to the present and ensure that we do not destroy the present”, he charged.

He further entreated the youth to refrain from using social media negatively as the kind of junks that are generated there can set the nation on fire; urging them to rather use social media to promote the peace the country needs to develop.

“I am taking you to the social media, the kinds of junks that are generated there that can set this nation on fire. Use social media to promote the peace we are talking about today. Go back and use social media to promote what you are doing here today so that other young people would learn from that”, he stated.

Highlighting some of the peace charter agreed by the various youth groups to end violence in the election, Most Rev. Professor Emmanuel Asante said that the youth have called for the need to strengthen systems and institutions to deal firmly with the rules of conflicts and violence.

He called on the Executive Secretary of National Peace Council to work hand-in-hand with the National Youth Authority (NYA) as this is where the institution can get the young people to engage in activities which will not expose to the youth into violence.

“We accordingly agreed to the following as necessary to contain activities which predispose the youth into violence. The first thing is systematic policies to be laid down by the NYA, empowering the youth since youth empowerment promotes stability and democracy and development”.

“In furtherance of this objective, the NYA must be non-partisan, independent and adequately resourced to discharge its duties. I am saying this because, Ghana, we are fond of creating institutions but not providing them with the wherewithal for them to work with and the young people are saying that they need that”, he quoted from the peace charter.

Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II has charged the security agencies, particularly the Ghana Police Service, to ensure that the December 7 elections pass without any incidents of violence.

He said the police should deal with whoever would want to foment trouble before, during and after the elections.

He gave this charge on Thursday, October 15, when the Inspector General of Police, James Oppong-Boanuh, called on him at the Manhyia Palace in Kumasi.

“The peace of the elections is in your hands,” the king of the Asante Kingdom said in local language Twi.

“The IGP has assured that the police are ready for the exercise. Anybody who attempts to cause trouble should be dealt with lawfully.”

He observed that Ghana is the only country for all including politicians.

He, therefore, advised them to be circumspect in the pronouncement and accept the outcome of the elections.

“When we vote and you win, we will give it to you. When you lose at least in another four years, there will be another elections. This is what Ghanaians have accepted.

“If you disagree with the results, you can send it to court for a decision which will be accepted by all of us. There is no need for chaos.”

He also advised the youth not to blindly follow politicians to cause trouble.

This the IGP, Mr Oppong-Boanuh, was happy about and appealed to traditional leaders to advise the youth not to be used as instruments to perpetrate violence.

Speaker of Parliament, Professor Aaron Mike Ocquaye has praised the Presbyterian Boys Senior High School team that won the 2020 National Science and Maths Quiz (NSMQ) describing them as heroes who have made their school proud.

According to him the people who founded the school had a purpose to instill in the children Christian training for a soilid foundation.

“Those who started the school wanted something or they purposed something in heart and I would like us to remind ourselves of our pedigree on occasions like this.

“It stimulates and encourages us to achieve what those people set out to accomplish, which is summarised in our motto ‘Christian training, sure solid foundation’,”

Prof Oquaye made the remark when a delegation from Presec-Legon including the team that won the just ended National Science and Maths Quiz paid a courtesy call on him at Parliament House in Accra.

Presec-Legon were crown champions for the sixth time in the just ended NSMQ after winning the trophy in 1995, 2003, 2006, 2008, and 2009.

Presec has also been to the NSMQ finals more than any other school and won the competition more than any other group.

Prof Oquaye also observed that the Presec boys that won the NSMQ apart from their academic achievement were well behaved during the contest.

“When I saw the Presec boys, three fine gentlemen on television that day, apart from their academic achievement, if you look at them from top to bottom you would be proud of them, no baggy trousers….groomed physically, mentally, spiritually, morally all in one person. Because those started that institution wanted to achieve something and by the grace of God they have achieved it,” he added.

Prof Oquaye also charged the new crop of students in the school to maintain the discipline and Christian training by passing on the tradition to those who would come after them.

It is a privilege to be in Presec, I trust that those who left that to us, you who are there would also leave the same thing…by handing over the tradition,” he said.

Rev Ebenezer Market, Board Chairman of Presec and Global President of PRESEC Old Boys Association in his remark recalled that during a courtesy on the Speaker to invite him to the school’s 80th Anniversary celebration, Prof Oquaye among other things urged the school’s board and management to work hard to ensure that Presec win the NSMQ trophy this time around.

He also recollected a profound statement made by the Speaker to them “Do not think of yourself as any other secondary school, think of yourself Presbyterian Boys Secondary School and that touch must never be allowed to go out. Go and bring me the trophy,”

He said with the Speaker’s admonition to the school authorities and the board they then set up committees to investigate the challenges that the institution had.

Rev Markwei also explained that the Old Student Association and the board did not only put pressure on the school authorities to perform but provided with the interface to be able to accomplish the task of lifting the trophy for the NSMQ once again.

He expressed thanks to God that this year through hard work and with the support of stakeholders Presec was able to lift the NSMQ for the sixth time.

“We are grateful to God that this year by hard work and from every stakeholder in the NSMQ including the school administration, old students, teachers and handlers… and this year 2020 Presec have lifted the NSMQ for the sixth time,” he said.

Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mr James Oppong-Boanuh, has advised Ghanaians to go quietly to the voting centres on December 7 and cast their ballot without fomenting trouble, as the law will deal with anyone who attempts to distort the elections on that day.

The IGP gave the advice during a working visit to the Ashanti Region.

The IGP, who was in the region to assess the operational readiness of the Service ahead of the December polls, noted that the personnel are ready for the polls.

“The operational assessment of the readiness of the police in Ashanti toward the 2020 election, we have all witnessed the scenario that was staged and the response of the police.

“You’ve looked at how they’ve responded to the situations.

“This is to show how they’ll react should there be any of such incidence on such on the election day”, he said.

“While at it, let me appeal to Ghanaians that we should go to the polling stations, cast our votes and do not foment any trouble, because if you do, the law will catch up with you”, the IGP stated.

Apart from assessing the operational readiness of the police, the IGP was in the region to meet with major stakeholders, counterparts and partners of peace ahead of the polls.

He also held a meeting with Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II.

Mr Oppong-Boanuh further assured the general public that the police service is “ready and prepared to police the ballot, before during and after the election day.”

The IGP, as part of his visit to the region, will meet with personnel of the Ghana Police Service to look at their welfare to find out if they have any challenges with their welfare and find out how best those challenges can be addressed.