Provide more platforms for engagement on electoral process - CSOs to EC

Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) in the country have urged the Electoral Commission (EC) to provide more opportunities and platforms for engagement to deepen understanding of the electoral process.

This, the group said, would ensure transparency and integrity of the electoral process to boost the confidence and trust of all stakeholders in the process.

They also appealed to the National House of Chiefs to strengthen traditional authorities' role to support a peaceful electoral process, prevailed on political actors and the EC to deepen confidence of all actors in the electoral process, promote social cohesion, and douse tension before, during and after the December 7 polls.

The CSOs made the call in a communique issued after a two-day experience-sharing workshop organised by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Commission on countering hate speech and mis/disinformation to promote participatory and peaceful elections held in Accra from September 24 to 25, this year, for CSOs.

CSOs

It was attended by POS Foundation, Erudite Women's Empowerment, Ghana Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana), Care for Free and Fair Elections Ghana, Resource Link Foundation, Election Consult Africa, Institute for Democratic Governance (IDEG), Legal Resources Centre, Women in Law and Development (WILDAF), FOSDA, West Africa Centre for Counter-Extremism (WACCE)

The rest are the Yayra-si Youth Foundation, GenCED, The Resource Foundation, Transformative Impact Network Ghana, Human Rights Reporters Ghana, United Force for Development International, Ghana Human Rights Defenders Network, Women in Media, Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII), West Africa Civil Society Institute (WACSI), Substantial Ladies in Governance, Media Foundation for West Africa, Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition (GACC) and the West Africa Network for Peacebuilding (WANEP).

Compliance

The CSOs further pledged to diligently monitor the electoral process to ensure compliance with national laws and international best practices.

“We shall reinforce efforts geared towards raising awareness and understanding of the electorate through robust voter education and civic education to enhance participation and enable citizens to make informed choices in the polls,” the communique said.

The group said they would reinforce collaboration with the media to ensure that media practitioners embrace decent communication and engage with the National Media Commission and the Ghana Journalists Association to address hate speech, misinformation and inciting statements before, during and after the polls.

They said they would continue to advocate for and prevail on political actors to respect and promote responsible communication in the dissemination of their electoral campaign messages in the lead-up to the polls.

It said it would address violence against women in politics through digital literacy training and experience-sharing platforms, prioritise youth integration in election-related initiatives and promote digital rights and sensitisation on misinformation.

Furthermore, the CSOs called on the ECOWAS Commission and the African Union Commission to engage major stakeholders and mobilise resources to support peaceful and inclusive elections.