On Monday, December 7, 2020, Ghanaians will once again queue to elect who their representatives would be in Parliament as well as who become the next president, but the Distinguish Scholars of Africa (DistinSA) have called for it to be conducted in peace and transparency.

This process, although straight forward, had led many countries into unforgiven civil wars and protracted conflicts on the African content alongside citizens becoming destitute in foreign lands.  

The scholars at a press conference organised under the theme: “Securing amicable lawful transition (SALT) and legitimate open verifiable election (LOVE) – the role of the media and the citizen” underscored the importance of the country maintaining peace before, during and after the elections.

President of DistinSA, Dr Nana Oppong in his address acknowledged the role of the media in ensuring peace of the country, by the dissemination of factual information.

Per his analysis, the media has a great responsibility to fact check every information it receives before passing on into the public domain and must endeavour to not to entertain misinformation and malformation.

According to him, media operation, especially during these few days ahead of the elections, must be guided by transparency and law in order not send the country on the path of chaos.

Dr Oppong even wished that information shared on social media during the election is censored to prevent awkward incident that may generates from irresponsible post or comment.

He said will the media is being advised to play its role responsibly, citizens were equally encouraged to respect the facts and bot hear-say.

DistinSA President also enforced the idea of mutual respect and avoidance the use of verbal attacks, as no political party can make someone lesser or supernatural human being.

The most important issue that he raised was that electorates must ensure they went out in their numbers to vote to avoid the election being contested in court.

He said such situation may lead to confusion and complications, believing that the judiciary is not as independent as it is supposed to be and be it as it may it is not easy for a loser conceive defeat or cooperate with the winner for smooth transition, therefore, the citizens must go out to vote.

Isaac Ablakwa of Anti-Corruption Institute on his part stated that the precedent being set by United State President Donald Trump allude to the fact that there is no smooth transfer of power.

Thinking aloud, he asked what if the incumbent after losing decide to still hold on to the levers of power or with support of some judges declares the election as fraudulent or appoints enough judges to grant him judgement or orders the military to chase, arrest and crash the opponent.

In all, he called for professionalism and independence of the security agencies in the discharge of their duties.

Secondly, he called for amendment of some portions of the constitution to reflect these democratic needs.

By Akutu Dede Adimer