Election 2020: CODEO demands update on police probe into violence

The Coalition of Domestic Election Observers (CODEO) is asking the Inspector General of Police (IGP), James Oppong Boanuh to provide Ghanaians with updates on investigations conducted into election-related violence that occurred during the 2020 election cycle.

This was one of the key recommendations in a post-election report issued by the election observer group in line with its mandate to gauge the general post-election environment.

Carried out by CODEO’s post-election observers, the report was based on 30 constituencies that featured heavily during the election particularly due to contestable results and other election-related violence.

Although the group reported a generally stable election atmosphere, it, however, took notice of some incidents of disturbances following the nationwide streets protests by the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) leading to the ongoing election petition hearing.

CODEO has thus recommended that for the sake of transparency the leadership of the Police Service brief the public on the outcome of probes into those pockets of violence recorded after the polls.

“As in the previous cases of election-related violence recorded during the voter registration exercise and in line with public accountability, CODEO calls on the Inspector-General of Police and the Ghana Police Service to inform the public about the status of investigations into all election-related violence recorded during the elections and in the post-election period”, the observation statement noted.

Matters on election Petition

For CODEO, it is imperative for all stakeholders, the media, and the public to be circumspect in their general discussions on the ongoing court hearings so as not to jeopardize legitimate processes of the court.

“CODEO commends all candidates challenging election outcomes in the courts and further urges all candidates, political parties, and their supporters to cooperate with the courts to determine the merits or otherwise of election petitions”, it added.

Some constituencies that were attached to the report as areas for the post-election observation are Odododoido, Ablekuma Central, Sene West, Techiman South, Awutu Senya West, Hohoe, Savelugu among others.

Meanwhile, CODEO says it is continuing with its post-election environment observation and will duly share its
findings with the public when necessary.

Click here for the full report as released by CODEO.