4 Constituencies to benefit from anti-political violence workshop

Four constituencies identified as flashpoints in the Bono and Ahafo regions are to benefit from a project that will address political violence in those constituencies.

Dubbed “Managing Election 2020-Related Violence for Democratic Stability”, the project, which is being funded by STAR-Ghana, will address issues of political vigilantism and social inclusion so as to ensure a peaceful election in December.

It will be implemented by four non-governmental organisations working under the umbrella of the Ahafo Network of Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs).

The beneficiary constituencies are Banda and Tain in the Bono Region and Asunafo North and Asunafo South in the Ahafo Region.

Project details

Under the project, six community forums would be organised for foot soldiers of political parties, youth groups and communities to promote inclusiveness and peaceful co-existence.

About 50 media persons and serial callers will also benefit from training on violence prevention and peaceful campaigns and reporting.

In addition, the network will organise two capacity training sessions for more than 100 youth and serial callers on manifesto discussions and issue-based campaigns in each implementing constituency and develop jingles to advocate inclusion of socially excluded people and prevention of violence.

The project is also expected to build the capacity of about 50 women, including queenmothers, and organise focus group meetings with 50 party executives on how to organise campaigns devoid of violence in each consistituency.

Survey

The acting Chairman of the Ahafo Network of NGOs, Mr Raphael Godlove Ahenu, told the Daily Graphic that a survey conducted by the NGOs showed that political violence was associated with those four constituencies before, during and after every general election.

He said the inability of state agencies to prosecute perpetrators of political violence, as well as weak structures contributed to the political tension in those constituencies each election year.

“We have conducted a survey in Asunafo North and Asunafo South in the Ahafo Region, as well as Banda and Tain constituencies in the Bono Region, and it clearly shows that these constituencies experience political violence during elections due to a number of factors,” he stated.

He said the survey revealed that at Sankore in the Asunafo South Constituency, political violence persisted due to non-prosecution of perpetrators who fomented trouble before, during and after elections.

Engagement

Mr Ahenu said the project would, therefore, seek to address the challenges identified and also engage other relevant stakeholders in addressing party vigilantism and other election-related conflicts and increase responsiveness of election management bodies.

He expressed the need to involve Persons Living With Disabilities, women, young people and hard-to-reach communities in all stages of the election to ensure inclusiveness and sustain peace after the general election.