CDD-Ghana satisfied with progress in democratic journey but condemns pockets of violence

The Ghana Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana) has stated that the orderly conduct of the December 7, 2024, general election reflects the steady, incremental progress the citizenry had made collectively in the country’s democratisation journey since 1992.

It said Ghana continues to make important strides in its quest to build a stable democratic order.

“We must continue to work harder to improve upon the performance and quality of our democracy by ensuring that our elections and their aftermath are free of acts of violence and harm to life, limb and property,” it stressed.

A statement issued in Accra by CDD-Ghana, however, condemned the incidents and acts of hooliganism, vandalism, storming, raiding and occupation of public facilities and offices in the aftermath of the December 7, 2024, general election.

Violence

It said since the reins of government passed from the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to the National Democratic Congress (NDC) on January 7, 2025, there had also been ejection of public officials from their offices or official residences and similar disorderly conduct reported across the country.

It said it was aware that a similar pattern of post-election disorder and violence perpetrated by partisans of the victorious party had characterised previous turnover elections in the country in the Fourth Republic.

“This regrettable fact, however, cannot excuse or justify the latest spate of post-election violence.

Rather, the Centre is concerned that this pattern of post-election partisan hooliganism, left unchecked and unpunished from one turnover election to the next, would become an ugly feature of our political culture, undermining efforts to mitigate our winner-take-all politics and threatening the peace and stability of our Republic,” it noted.

Enforcement

The statement, therefore, called on the law enforcement authorities to apply the laws of Ghana firmly to arrest this growing tendency.

It also urged the government of President John Dramani Mahama, “in keeping with its pledge and mandate to Reset Governance and Politics in Ghana, to send a clear message to all Ghanaians, without regard to party, that this growing and disturbing tendency in our electoral politics will no longer be tolerated.”

It urged the government not to do anything to hinder the leadership and personnel of the Ghana Police Service and the law enforcement authorities generally from dealing lawfully with those persons arrested in connection with the recent or ongoing post-election hooliganism and vandalism.

Vigilantism

It recalled that similar resoluteness and consensus on the part of the political class to deal with the related problem of party-aligned political vigilantes, culminating in the passage of the Vigilantism and Related Offences Act (2019) had helped to stem or mitigate that dangerous tendency in our electoral politics.

“We propose that post-election partisan hooliganism attract enhanced criminal penalties similar to those prescribed in the Vigilantism Act for offenders of that law.

We propose that future Transition Teams, following turnover elections, prioritise addressing and containing post-election partisan violence and hooliganism as a critical component of the transition process,” it said.