The Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana) says it will continue to engage relevant stakeholders in finding justice for victims of violence that characterised the 2020 general elections in parts of the country.
CDD-Ghana is concerned about recurring electoral violence, which often happens at places identified as hotspots.
At a meeting with affected families and victims of 2020 electoral violence, the Programs Manager at CDD-Ghana, Nana Aborampah Mensah, appealed to the Legal Aid Board to help the victims get justice before the next polls.
“The question is, so what next from here? We are going to do targeted meetings. For instance, we plan to meet Parliament’s Select Committee, Defence and Interior and present the data we have and challenges the people are facing with them so that, as representatives of the people, they fight for justice of the people. We will also heighten advocacy on the issue to call on the institutions concerned to speed up the investigations and prosecution, so we have justice for the people.”
Earlier this year, the civil society group called on the Ghana Police Service and the Office of the Attorney General to expedite action on the cases of violence recorded in the December 2020 polls, currently under investigation.
The call is among other recommendations made by the organisation in a project report dubbed, Post-Elections Accountability on Elections Security, which tracked progress on some 12 cases of electoral violence.
Two of the cases were in the Ashanti Region (Fomena and Asante Akyem North), three in the Central Region (Awutu Senya East, Ajumako Enyan Essiam and Awutu Senya East), one in the Bono East region (Techiman South), two in the Northern Region (Kpandai and Savelugu), two in the Greater Accra Region (Odododiodoo and Ablekuma Central) and two in the Bono Region (Banda and Dormaa West).
“The condition is that we need to strengthen our institutions and resolve existing issues. Most of our electoral violence happens in the same constituencies repeatedly. This is because victims of previous elections did not see anything”, Nana Aborampah Mensah added.
The follow-up was also to ascertain their current status within the justice delivery system. The constituencies and regions were selected based on their record of major electoral violence cases during the 2020 electoral process.
It was found that four of the cases were still in court, while three were still under police investigation.
Two of the cases were settled by the parties involved, while three of the cases had been forwarded to the Attorney General’s office for advice.
CDD-Ghana is of the view that failing to prosecute and ensure justice, could erode public trust in the security and criminal justice system and increase the tendency for potential reprisal attacks in future elections.
In its recommendations, it said the Ghana Police, Service must periodically provide the public with updates on the status of each of the cases as a way of enhancing transparency in the handling of these cases.
