There is a need for all political parties to genuinely commit to peace and back their intentions with concrete actions. Signing peace pacts, however, has no legal basis and is not binding on any individual. Such affirmations, according to critics, have become deceitful public exercises that politicians have used over the years, while privately deploying their own security personnel to violate electoral protocols and manipulate elections.
Speaking on Adekyee Mu Nsem, a morning show on Ahotor 92.3 FM hosted by Solomon Asiedu, Richard Kumadoe, Founder of the Independent Election Security and Compliance Watchers, expressed concern over the recurring cycle of election-related violence despite repeated peace pact ceremonies.
Mr. Kumadoe noted that over the years, political parties have continued the tradition of signing peace pacts, yet every election cycle is marred by violence instigated by political actors.
He stressed that all stakeholders must strictly adhere to their roles and manage election security with integrity and trust. According to him, stakeholders should focus on ensuring peaceful elections rather than deceiving the public with rhetoric about peace, only to resort to violence when it matters most.
Going forward, Mr. Kumadoe called on political actors to allow the police to operate freely as the state institution mandated to maintain peace at all election centres. He warned against political parties interfering with the process or seeking undue influence over security personnel during voting, counting, collation, and declaration of results.
NPP Peace Pact: Kennedy Agyapong Camp Clarifies Objections
In a related development, Kwasi Kwarteng, spokesperson for New Patriotic Party (NPP) presidential hopeful Kennedy Agyapong, has clarified concerns raised by his candidate during the signing of the party’s peace pact ahead of the January 31 presidential primaries.
The peace pact, signed by all five aspirants, commits them to party unity, acceptance of the electoral process and its outcomes, and ensuring that supporters refrain from actions that could undermine peace within the party.
During the signing ceremony, Mr. Agyapong was seen raising concerns with party officials, prompting questions about his objections.
Mr. Kwarteng explained that Mr. Agyapong’s concerns stemmed from the omission of a key clause in the document presented at the event—one that had earlier been agreed upon by all aspirants.
According to him, the missing clause stated that voting centres would also serve as collation centres where results would be declared. He added that it was agreed that aspirants would receive copies of the peace pact ahead of the ceremony to familiarise themselves with its contents, but this did not happen.
“Initially, the expectation was that the organisers would have served the parties with the peace pact documents so we could review the content before the ceremony. Unfortunately, that did not happen. So Ken had his first opportunity to go through the document at the venue,” Mr. Kwarteng said.
He further explained that prior engagements between the aspirants, the Presidential Election Committee, and the Electoral Commission had produced a consensus that voting centres would double as collation centres, with results declared at those same locations.
Additionally, it was agreed that results from any voting centre where security was compromised would not be counted, and this understanding was expected to be reflected in the peace pact.
“Before the event, the parties had agreed with the Presidential Election Committee and the Electoral Commission that voting centres would also be used as collation centres, and declarations would be made there. In the event of any security breach, those centres would not be counted,” he stated.
Mr. Kwarteng disclosed that following Mr. Agyapong’s objection, the Chairman of the Presidential Election Committee, Joseph Osei Owusu, admitted that the omission was an error and gave a verbal assurance that the clause would be inserted.