Indigenous Leadership stance on the Electoral Commission (EC) recalcitrance is a fence around legitimate rightfulness and peer accountability and certainly not lawlessness

1.           The credibility of indigenous leadership is doubly enhanced with the cogent response to the malfeasance of the EC related to an invitation by the National House of Chiefs (GhanaWeb June 14, 2020). In this regard, other members of the NHoC speaking up on the matter to uphold the principle of institutional integrity and prevent a seething leadership paralysis among peers would be prescient.  Perception of an electoral arbiter as neutral whether real or imagined is integral to the sanctity of election results not serving as the cause of dispute and conflict. And if this does not seem to be the case, it is essential that an institutional intervention is made to ensure that the conscience of the nation is not scarred beyond repairs.

2.           The science of Covid-19 indicates that the virus is winning and return to normalcy may be sometime next year. Yet, the posturing of the EC on compiling a new voter register seems negligent and impervious to the rising daily case counts. An appropriate electoral measure of protection against deadly risk is the EC leading the nation in search of alternate ways of voting instead of embarking on what could possibly be described as a self-serving blind pursuit of an elections win agenda on behalf of an appointing authority. Given the timing and closeness of exercise to date of elections, outbursts of lawlessness by state and party apparatchiks regarding whoever questions the EC’s intentions and overall modus operandi may be intimidating tactics of silencing vocal citizens to become lumpen spectators.

3.           Ghana is blessed that in a context of electoral-related rising tensions, a venerable leadership institution of governance besides the wielders of state power could lay claim to hallowed rightfulness and call for a principled dialogue to prevent the nation treading on a precipice of disaster. An agent of state that ignores such a gesture and labels this act as unlawful not only undermines legitimate leadership prerogative but is also taking for granted the atrocities of election-induced violence and the perils of untamable pandemic.

4.           An effective mechanism of peer accountability is necessary to instill discipline and shape the operations of partisan politics particularly in a poverty-ridden and entrenched situation of the country. By dint of heritage and the construction of the modern state which exists and functions more as a rentier structure, the likely source of the type of peer accountability which will rein in recalcitrant and negligent behaviors of state officials is indigenous leadership. Let us not mince words about the uniqueness of this country’s leadership arrangements.

5.           For the love and unity of our beloved country, the A&A Network and partners persistently advocate for Ghana to adopt a Blended Representation Principle (BRP) of Governance. Visit www.anani-afelenetwork.org for details on the BRP which is simply a fusion of leadership systems that ensures the sharing of power between indigenous and modern leadership.

June 19, 2020