Dr Kojo Asante, Director of Advocacy and Policy at CDD-Ghana, says to secure electoral justice, citizens must have access to information at every stage of the electoral process.
He said access to information empowers citizens to understand electoral laws and how they were applied, verify the accuracy of voter registers, to ensure no one was unjustly disenfranchised and monitor the election-day process to guarantee fairness at polling stations.
Dr Asante was speaking at the Public Forum on the Africa Commission Guidelines on Access to Information and Elections on the theme: “Ensuring Electoral Justice: Strengthening Access to Information in Ghana’s Electoral Process.”
The forum organised by the Parliamentary Network Africa (PNAfrica) in collaboration with the Coalition on the Right to Information, Ghana (RTI Coalition) sought to highlight the extent to which Ghana applied in practice, regional treaties and standards on electoral transparency.
It also discussed systems and processes best suited to mainstream access to information into Ghana’s entire electoral process.
The forum analyzed election related information that must be proactively disclosed to the public in line with the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) Guidelines on Access to Information and Elections in Africa and the Right to Information Act, 2019 (Act 989).
It was being organized under the ‘Enhancing Civic Participation of Youth and Women in Ghana Project’ supported by the French Embassy in Ghana.
The Director said access to information also empowers citizens to scrutinize campaign finance reports to see who was funding whom and for what purposes and evaluate election results and hold election bodies accountable for the integrity of the process.
He commended the RTI Commission on its hard work to get a fees regime passed by Parliament to guide the charges for accessing information.
Dr Asante said where there was access to information, there was mis/disinformation and “we need a collective effort from our fact checkers to give tips to people on how to verify information and our regulators to work with the media to limit its impact.”
He said it was important that stakeholders understood the profound role access to information played in electoral justice.
“Transparent elections are built on the foundation of information, and it is the responsibility of every institution involved in the electoral process to ensure that information flows freely and fairly to all citizens,” he added.
He said stakeholders must ensure that every Ghanaian regardless of their background or status had access to the information they needed to make informed decisions and vote in an orderly on December 7th.
Dr Serebour Quaicoe, the Director of Electoral Services at the Electoral Commission (EC), said the Commission found it difficult to disclose certain information on its activities into the public domain.
He said rather the Commission had a lot of information on its website that could be of help to the public concerning the electoral processes.
“We have tried enough to involve the media in most of our activities to disseminate information to the public and create awareness on the electoral processes,” he added.
He said it was not enshrined in the ECs mandate to give daily update on the registration process, but they only do that in a bid to promote transparency.
The Director advised the media to verify information carefully before publishing, emphasizing the need for caution in sharing information to avoid misleading the public.
He called on the citizens to proactively access electoral information to remain informed about the processes.
Madam Mina Mensah, Director, Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, Africa Office, said information was key in all situations and without information things could not be done properly.
She said proactive disclosure was low in Ghana and urged agencies and departments to proactively disclose information for citizens to make informed decisions.
Mr Samuel Obeng, Executive Director, PNAfrica said proactive disclosure was where information was shared readily and in real-time, became a safeguard of electoral justice.
He said the ACHPR Guidelines stated that “Proactive disclosure of electoral information, both in content and timing, is essential to promote fairness and reduce tensions, speculation, and distrust that can mar the electoral process.”
He said as stakeholders, they bear a unique responsibility to set the standard, whether it was publishing verified voter data, promptly communicating security protocols, or media houses ensuring accurate reporting, these efforts collectively serve to protect our elections from misinformation, misinterpretation, and mistrust.
Source: GNA
