The Coalition of Domestic Election Observers (CODEO) has called on state authorities, especially the Ghana Police Service, to expedite investigations into all acts of violence and misconduct during mass voter registration exercise over the past six weeks.
The coalition is expecting the security agencies to ensure that people who engaged in violent and criminal behaviours during the biometric voter registration (BVR) exercise face the full rigors of the law.
A statement signed by Albert Kofi Arhin, national coordinator of CODEO, and issued on Tuesday evening, August 11, 2020 stated that, “persons found culpable in various criminal breaches of the law should be prosecuted and sanctioned in accordance with the laws of Ghana”.
The Coalition urged the police to expeditiously complete all investigations including the violent incidents at Awutu Senya East in the Central Region, Dormaa West in the Bono region as well as the incident at Banda which resulted in the death of one young man for the law to take its course.
The police administration was also entreated by the coalition to share updates of the investigations conducted with the Ghanaian public.
According to CODEO, this act would stimulate confidence in the security agencies and further deter perpetrators against future incidents of this nature.
The group was quick to add that failure to enforce the rule of law will erode confidence in the security agencies and the rule of law.
CODEO also cautioned “all political parties to desist from the use of incendiary language that unnecessarily polarizes the country along ethnic and extremely partisan lines as this can lead to dire consequences for the country in the short to long term”.
CODEO suggested that stakeholders should raise genuine concerns about the electoral process without necessarily using such polarizing language.
