Report electoral deals to CHRAJ

THE Commissioner on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), Mr Francis Emile Short, has urged the public to report persons involved in any electoral malpractice to the commission or any other appropriate agency for redress during the December elections.
“Any conduct that would undermine the integrity of the elections must be rejected. Inducing voters to vote in a certain way, providing gifts to voters to obtain the election of a candidate, promising voters jobs to influence them to vote or refrain from voting, all constitute conducts prohibited under the law,” he stated.
The commissioner, who was speaking at a ceremony to mark the second anniversary of the African Union (AU) Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption and Related Offences, added that any conduct of this nature constituted a violation, which when reported to the commission, must be investigated.
He emphasised that Article 43 of the 1992 Constitution guaranteed every citizen of 18 years the right to vote, and in order to realise that right, voters should be able to form opinions independently, free of violence, intimidation, manipulation or interference of any kind.
Mr Short said the convention was adopted on July 11, 2003 by the AU Heads of State in Maputo, Mozambique, and came into force on August 5, 2006.
“Prior to its adoption, several protocols and conventions on corruption were already in existence at the regional and international levels,” he stated and revealed that efforts at combating corruption in Ghana had not yielded the desired result.
He said the convention sought, among other things, to establish the necessary conditions to foster transparency and accountability in the management of public affairs.
He noted that “commemorating the anniversary of the convention will set Ghana apart as one of the countries foremost in applying the principles and measures initiated by the convention in the fight against corruption in Africa”.
He pointed out that marking the day should remind Ghanaians of their commitment to fight corruption as Ghana prepares for the 2008 elections, hinting that “we need to be mindful of the requirement to respect, protect and promote fundamental human rights and freedoms in Ghana.
Mr Short assured all that the commission would be playing a crucial role in this year’s elections, stating that they would compile a list of officials who would be trained to monitor pre-election, election and post-election happenings in various constituencies in some selected regions, including Accra.
“I believe all of us stakeholders have a unique opportunity to reflect on ways to ensure free and fair elections in December 2008, considering issues like curbing election corruption and reducing the introduction of money in election.
Mr Vitus A. Azeem, the Executive Secretary of Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII), the local chapter of Transparency International, also advised the public to be vigilant and expose any attempt by any person to derail the system.
“We must encourage the people we support not to resort to ‘macho men’ and also get the security agencies to be neutral when carrying out their activities,” he stated.
Mr Azeem entreated the media to report accurately and report issues that would not cause public outcries, noting that the reports must be clear and acceptable.
“Let us put the issues on the table and come out with suggestions and solutions on how best we can solve them,” he advised.
“We cannot deny that money plays an important role in politics and elections,” he admitted, but pointed out that what Ghanaians needed to do was to work at sustaining the peace and tranquility that the nation had been enjoying so far.