JONATHAN LEADS WEST AFRICAN ELDERS TO MONITOR GHANA ELECTION
Former President Goodluck Jonathan led a group of the West African Elders Forum observation mission that landed in Accra, Ghana, on Wednesday in advance of the general elections scheduled for December 7.
This was revealed by Wealth Dickson Ominabo, the WAEF’s communications officer, in a statement provided to the News Agency of Nigeria in Abuja on Wednesday.
Jonathan, who arrived in Ghana, was reported by Ominabo in the statement as urging Ghanaians to be patriotic and strive for free, fair, and peaceful elections.
Ms. Ann Iyonu, the executive director of the Goodluck Jonathan Foundation; Jonathan’s special adviser, Ikechukwu Eze; and Mr. Kadre Ouedraogo, the former Burkinabe prime minister and ECOWAS president, are among the other delegation members.
Ghana’s history of peaceful political transitions served as a model for democratic administration throughout Africa, Jonathan said, praising the people of Ghana for their unwavering dedication to democratic principles.
āThe upcoming elections present another opportunity for Ghanaians to reinforce their dedication to democracy, stability, and development,ā he stated.
In order to guarantee a legitimate voting process, the mission leaders also tasked the Ghanaian electoral commission and security forces with upholding their independence and impartiality mandates.
He added, āWAEF urges the Electoral Commission of Ghana to uphold its mandate of conducting free and fair elections and ensuring the transparency and credibility of the 2024 elections as a way of building trust among the electorate and stakeholders.
āWe encourage the security agencies to sustain their professional conduct, maintain their neutrality and a peaceful electoral environment by ensuring impartial deployment to safeguard voting materials, polling centres, and citizens across the country.
āAs we approach the end of campaign activities, we urge all political parties and their candidates to reaffirm their commitment to peaceful campaigns devoid of hate speech, inflammatory rhetoric, and personal attacks.ā
The former president also vowed to settle disagreements by legal and constitutional means and urged political parties, candidates, and all other parties involved to uphold the integrity of the electoral process.
Jonathan also asked young people and party members to abstain from violence and intimidation during and after the elections.
Jonathan called Ghana a democracy model and asked Ghanaians to resist violence, intimidation, and other practices that could compromise the integrity of the electoral process in order to protect Ghana’s democratic record.
āBy working together, Ghanaians can once again assert the countryās position as a model of democracy built on a tradition of peaceful, free, fair and transparent elections,āĀ heĀ said.