Concern has been voiced by an EU election observation team over unimplemented improvements suggested during its 2020 election observation trip in Ghana.
The need for legal changes on topics like political financing, including the misuse of public funds, the increased participation of women in politics, a more inclusive process for the nomination of electoral commissioners, and the administration of petitions for parliamentary elections were among the recommendations.
The proposals also emphasised the necessity of setting up adequate media and digital communications oversight during the campaigning season.
"Ghana wasted a chance by failing to resolve some of these shortcomings, which also appeared in the 2016 EOM (election observation mission) report and the 2012 election expert mission," Javier Nart, the Head of Mission and Chief Observer of the EU Election Observation Mission to Ghana in 2020, who is also a Member of the European Parliament, made the statement.
Following up on its observation before and during the 2020 presidential and parliamentary elections in Ghana, the team expressed concern that only six of the 18 recommendations "were partially being addressed by the Electoral Commission (EC)" and that "there was a lack of political will to implement the reforms recommended." This concern was expressed after a follow-up mission to Ghana between March 20 and 24, 2023.
Speaking to reporters yesterday in Accra, Mr. Nart said that the follow-up mission was not "political, but an impartial technical mission aimed at fostering discussion and action by important national players working to enhance democracy in Ghana.
He explained that the mission also aimed to examine the state of the execution of the recommendations made by the 2020 EU election observation team and to bring attention to places where electoral reforms had not yet been implemented.
During the tour, the team, according to him, interacted with a wide range of electoral players, including the EC, Parliament, pertinent state agencies, the judiciary, political parties, media outlets, civil society organisations, and development partners.
The administration of the voting process will be transparent and inclusive, according to Mr. Nart, who said that this was essential to boosting public trust.
According to him, the team's follow-up visit revealed that several issues requiring legal reform were still unresolved, suggesting a lack of political will from the government in general.
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