THE ROLE OF THE 2024 PRESIDENTIAL PEACE PACT ON GHANA’S 2024 GENERAL ELECTIONS
Introduction
Elections are acknowledged as the hallmark of democratic governance, providing a mechanism for citizens to select their leaders. However, in many countries, including Ghana, they are often marred by incidents of violence. In light of Ghana’s history of election-related violence, the Presidential Elections Peace Pact (PEPP) was introduced as a key mechanism to mitigate these conflicts. This piece mainly examines the role of the 2024 peace pact on Ghana’s 2024 general elections.
An Overview of Election Violence
Elections are often regarded as a peaceful means for choosing political representation, but in reality, they are frequently accompanied by violence. No universally accepted definition or standardized terminology exists for election violence. Its form differs depending on the context. For instance, Fischer (2002, p. 8) defined electoral violence as:
Any random or organized act that seeks to determine, delay, or otherwise influence an electoral process through threat, verbal intimidation, hate speech, disinformation, physical assault, forced “protection,” blackmail, destruction of property, or assassination. The victims of electoral violence can be people, places, things, or data.
Bardall on the other hand defined it as a subtype of political violence which is a:
Means of controlling and/or oppressing an individual or a group’s right to participate in political processes and institutions through the use of emotional, social, or economic force, coercion, or pressure, as well as, physical and sexual harm. It may take place in public or in private, including in the family, the general community, online, and via media, or be perpetrated or condoned by the state. …occurring within a given timeframe, specifically from the date of voter registration to the date of inauguration of a new government (p. 109).
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