A leading sports administrator in Ghana Nana Fitzgerald Barkers Woode has called on the two leading, feuding political parties to immediately find an amicable way of resolving their differences on the 2020 general elections result. He explained that the intense rivalry for power that has reared its head after the 2020 presidential and parliamentary elections should quickly be tackled and resolved with expert dispute resolution skills instead of the uncharted waters the two leading parties NPP and NDC are attempting to embark on.
“ I have experienced several regimes right from the days of Dr Nkrumah. In those days we witnessed a lot of political dirty fighting and intense rivalry among burgeoning political parties. But I can say with conviction that what we saw in parliament recently looks more dangerous.”
He expressed regret about the politics of insults and the use of unprintable words by representatives of political parties during radio, Tv and even in press releases and mini-statements which he said should be nipped in the bud.
Nana Fitz says politics of mistrust and insults have the potential to escalate and we Ghanaians have a responsibility to call for peace between the two leading parties to quickly manage the situation instead of leaving it for them to struggle with.
“ Should something happen right now, about 85% of us including children, women, the aged and sick people may not have the means to travel or leave the country and where are we going to go in these Covid-19 days any way? In Ghana we love peace, however, it is unfortunate things are not looking good”.
As Ghanaians we continue to pride ourselves that we have strong governance and legal institutions which are capable of resolving any political dispute on the African continent.
Indeed since 1990, contested elections have become a regular fixture of the political systems of sub-Saharan Africa. However, lessons can be drawn from them, both for democracy and for best electoral practice. None of these elections was ‘typical’ for the continent. All were fiercely contested though. Elections in the DR Congo and Sierra Leone happened after extended periods of civil war; Kenya’s provoked a major outbreak of violence after the results were announced; while Nigeria’s saw opposition wins at the sub-national level and loss of life around the polling itself. Each has something important to say about the meaning of elections in Africa and the challenges that arise in running them well. (David K Leornard, Journal of African Elections 2008)
He concluded by saying, in Ghana we were fortunate our strong belief in the legal system was called upon which reliably resolved the 2012 election dispute but reminded Ghanaians that political power is transient and political parties know for sure that four years is not very far away and therefore patience is required.
