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Election 2008 Code of Conduct and The Enforcement Bodies

The relative peaceful nature of Ghana's last two Elections are due to two unsung heroes. The Political Parties Code of Conduct and the Enforcement Bodies.

REPORT ON THE ENFORCEMENT BODIES OF THE POLITICAL PARTIES CODE OF CONDUCT, 2008
INTRODUCTION
The roots of a thriving democracy such as Ghana’s are to be found in peace, stability, law and order as well as compliance by all stakeholders with well-defined laws and codes of conduct. In most cases, well-defined electoral laws and codes of conduct are described as “toothless bulldogs” because they lack “teeth” to make them enforceable and effective.
 
The idea of a Code of Conduct for Political Parties in Ghana was first mooted by the country’s Electoral Commission in 2000. The Code of Conduct drawn by the Electoral Commission, however, suffered severe setbacks. First, it applied to the conduct of Political Parties on Election Day only and secondly, it had no enforcement mechanism. To improve upon the existing Code, The IEA in collaboration with all the registered Political Parties in Ghana, the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) and the Electoral Commission, in 2004, reviewed the existing 2000 Code to make it applicable to the conduct of Political Parties and their supporters in the periods during and after elections.

The 2004 Code of Conduct called for the establishment of an Enforcement Body at the National level. However, this Enforcement Body was not established due to the short time between the Code’s inauguration and the Election. The absence of an enforcement mechanism resulted in the blatant abuse of office by the incumbent Government as well as public office holders who abused their positions with reckless abundance. This was because there were no systems and checks in place to expose and sanction defaulting public office holders. Despite the fact that advocacy was conducted nationwide by The NCCE and The IEA on the Code of Conduct, total compliance with  the Code was not achieved. To date, the NDC still challenges the credibility of the 2004 elections results claiming that the ruling Party rigged the elections and unconstitutionally declared itself the winner. The presence of an enforcement mechanism could have minimized this state of affairs.
The 2008 Presidential and Parliamentary elections, unlike the 2004 elections, held unique prospects in terms of their competitiveness. The successful conduct of the elections and the general acceptance of the results were another plus in Ghana’s ratings on the scorecards of “Watchers of the African Electoral Scene”. 2008 will also mark a decade and four years of unprecedented and uninterrupted democratic rule in Ghana.  The peaceful outcome depended largely on the advancement of a peaceful environment before, during and after the elections created by the Code.

Unfortunately, the election landscape in Africa has changed for the worse since Ghana’s 2004 elections. Very flawed and highly controversial elections in Togo, Nigeria and Kenya raised alarm bells in Ghana and there was great fear and consternation Ghana could go down that path.

It was therefore imperative to put measures in place to reduce the political temperature, calm tempers and reassure both the Political Parties and the electorate of an enabling environment for free, credible, peaceful and transparent elections. To achieve this objective, appropriate systems and checks were put in place to send positive signals to the entire country. The involvement of Political Party leaders working and engaging together in sober, somber, friendly but competitive interactions presented that positive signal.
 
It is against this background that the Political Parties of Ghana met to review the 2004 Code of Conduct to give it “teeth”. The “teeth” lay in the creation and activation of the Enforcement Bodies at the National and Regional Levels.

The Political Parties were of the view that operating an Enforcement Mechanism throughout the country to monitor and report breaches of The Code of Conduct would go a long way to create and ensure a conducive and peaceful environment and a successful election.
It was therefore agreed that Enforcement Bodies be set up in all the regions and mandated to monitor and report breaches of the Code to the National Enforcement Body. Violations to be monitored and reported include:
• Abuse of Incumbency
• Defacing of Posters
• Biased Media Reportage
• Campaign Violence
• The Use of Provocative and Abusive Language by Political Party functionaries
• Non-cooperation with Election Administrators
• Declaration of Election Results by Political Parties and their Members
• Treatment and
• Inducement

MANDATE
The primary target group is the Political Parties. The Code spells out how the Political Parties must behave before, during and after elections. The Enforcement Bodies are therefore to ensure that the Political Parties behave in the manner that is expected of them. The Bodies are also to monitor the behaviour of the electorate and the supporters of the political parties as they are invariably used by the Political Parties to commit the violations under the Code. Thus the Bodies are to monitor the behaviour of the Political Parties and at the same time educate the electorate and the supporters of the Political Parties.
 The National Enforcement Body was inaugurated in July 2008. It was chaired by Rev. Dr. Fred Deegbe, a lawyer and the General Secretary of the Christian Council of Ghana. It consisted of representatives from the National Commission for Civic Education, National Peace Council, The Electoral Commission and all registered Political Parties of Ghana. The body was required to investigate all reports received from the Regions and to sanction those in breach of the Code. Sanctions were issued in the form of reprimands, undertakings from offending Parties not to repeat the offences. The National Body may in certain circumstances publish the findings of its investigations and where necessary, alerted the Security Agencies and other appropriate State institutions for further action. These findings were publicized in the form of Press Release and Press Briefings. In situations where the acts committed were found to be severe, a Report was made to the Security Agencies for the appropriate action to be taken.
Since the membership of the Body was made up of eminent and respected citizens who had largely remained impartial and non partisan, their rulings were balanced and agreeable to all disputants.  As part of the measures to encourage compliance, Political Parties who complied with the provisions of the Code of Conduct were commended whilst those who flouted the provisions of the Code were also named and shamed in the press. The Body also worked in collaboration with the Inter-Party Advisory Committee to ensure pertinent issues discussed at the meetings of the Enforcement Body were forwarded to IPAC meetings. The Body also briefed the Caucus of Political Party Chairmen and the Platform of General Secretaries and Policy Analysts of their findings and sanctions.
 The Regional Enforcement Bodies were inaugurated in rapid succession countrywide from the last week of July to the first week of August. The Regional Enforcement Bodies were made up of Political Party Executives, Representatives of The Electoral Commission and The National Commission for Civic Education, National Peace Council and the Security Services. The Regional Bodies are chaired by the Regional Directors of the NCCE. They held monthly meetings to discuss issues pertaining to their mandate. They were also required to move around their Regions to monitor the campaigns, rallies and other activities of the Political Parties. Again, they were required to investigate allegations at the Regional level, prepare reports and submit them to the National Enforcement Body. However, after the investigations had been conducted, the Regional Body could recommend sanctions and submit same to the National Body.

 With the establishment of the Enforcement Body at all levels, Political Parties were cautious of undertaking activities or using inflammatory language that had the tendency to derail the peace and tranquility of the country in order not to be tagged as or shamed in the newspapers and on the air waves. The leadership was very civil and cordial on radio, television and at all fora.

IMPACT
In the first place, the Code was the single most important document regulating the behavior of Political Parties before, during and after Elections 2008. It simplified all the laws of Ghana relating to Political Parties and Political Party behavior since awareness was created in the public. It used to be the case that the numerous laws on elections were scattered in various pieces of legislation.  The Code however brought together all these laws and simplified them. It was a one-stop place to locate all these laws.
Secondly, the Code acted as one of the main tools for creating civic awareness. The NCCE and the EC never spared an opportunity to educate the public on the provisions of the Code. At durbars, markets, bus stations, radio and television stations, the public were sensitized on the Code. Indeed, the National office of the NCCE came for copies and educated all its Regional and District officers, who in turn educated the public at the grassroots level.
Thirdly, the Code ensured compliance with the law. Past breaches of the electoral law were avoided.  The Electorate and Political Parties widely complied with provisions in the Code which stated that there was to be
  No campaigning 24 hours before election. Indeed, 24 hours before the elections, all campaigning ceased. No Political Party held rallies or put out radio and television advertisements. There was a blank. This indicated that the message of the Code had gone down and was being adhered to.
 On voting day, nobody wore Party shirts, mufflers, caps and armbands. Parties and their supporters were terrified of being named and shamed by the Regional Enforcement Bodies for breaches of the Code. There was only one reported case of wearing Party paraphernalia in all of Ghana. Even here, the awareness and vigilance levels were so high that the culprit was heckled and driven out of the Polling Station for violating this provision of the Code.
 Harassment of election administrators. The only exceptions were in the NPP and NDC strongholds of Ashanti and Volta respectively where there were some feeble attempts to harass election officials.
No leader wanted to be seen as violating the Code since this could be reported on air and negatively affected. There was general awareness of the provisions of the Code. This is because all radio stations nationwide discussed the Code extensively in English and the local languages there was so much awareness of the Code’s provisions that potential offenders were stopped before they stepped out of their homes.
Fourthly, the wide and inclusive nature of the Bodies working on the Code fostered a spirit of co-operation and unity. This spirit of cooperation led to the tranquility and unity Ghana experienced. Apart from the Political Parties, the National Commission on Civic Education, the Electoral Commission, the National Peace Council and the Security Services were represented on the National and Regional Enforcement Bodies. Being apolitical, they acted as the neutral arbiters and investigators between bickering Political Parties.  The National Enforcement Body acted as the first port of call for disputes between Political Parties
Fifthly, the Enforcement Body contributed immensely to calming the political temperature in the country. At a time when Northern Ghana was very volatile, the National Enforcement Body managed to hold a Workshop for all Political Parties in Tamale.  It was on the theme “Towards A Peaceful And Credible Election 2008”. The Workshop brought together the top executives of all the Political Parties, Media, Women’s Groups, Religious Groups, the EC, the NCCE, Security Services and Government Agencies to brainstorm on the best way to ensure a credible and violence-free election. Highly-researched papers were presented by Mr. Kwadwo Safo-Kantanka, Deputy Chairman, EC and a member of the National Enforcement Body and Dr. Ziblim Iddi, a Political Science Lecturer at the University of Ghana, Legon. The well-attended Workshop was moderated by Maulvi Wahab Adam, Ameer and Missionary-in-Charge, Ahmaddiya Muslim Mission, Ghana.
The Tamale Workshop was a success. It had a far-reaching impact. For the first time in as long as anybody can remember, leaders of all the Political Parties in the North were put together under one roof to brainstorm on their contributions to the electioneering process. It also sent out a signal to their supporters that they were not enemies, but partners in Ghana’s democratic process. As the Media gave the event extensive coverage, hardened positions softened and hard line positions in Parties gave room to common ground.  Lastly, a Communiqué was drafted and signed to bind all the Political Parties. In it, they recognized that the national interest superseded partisanship and promised to co-operate with the Electoral Commission to ensure a peaceful election. They also welcomed the establishment of Election Petition Court and called on the media and security services to be fair and neutral in the discharge of their duties. They finally undertook to abide by the Code and to submit their electoral disputes through laid-down procedures.
Furthermore, the Regional Enforcement Bodies had meetings with the Security Services. After this, there were regular Press briefings at the Regional and National levels. These calmed fears, kept the electorate aware of electoral trends and fostered a spirit of unity between Political Parties on one hand and between Political Parties and Security Services on the other hand.
Lastly, the National Enforcement Body issued timely and blunt Press Releases in which they called offending Parties to order. These Releases, based on the Code, provided the moral and political compass by which the actions and inactions of Political Parties were judged. Had it not been for such interventions, Ghana could have become chaotic, especially after the run-off election, considering how thin our democracy was stretched during Election 2008.

CHALLENGES
As with any human endeavour, there were challenges. 100% success with the Code was not attainable. In the various Parliamentary primaries of the Political Parties, abuses of the Code were widespread. The abuse of incumbency, defacement of posters, biased media reportage, violence and provocative campaign messages were recorded in some constituencies. For example, in the NPP Suhum primary, opposing supporters clashed with sticks and stones. Also, in the NPP Bekwai primaries, inflammatory language was used and there was mutual defacement of rival opponent’s posters.
At the Presidential level, the two leading Parties did not necessarily declare themselves winners. They however held various Press Conferences to state that the emerging trend of results put them in the lead and would make them the eventual winners. This created a false sense of heightened expectations in the country. At various times too, supporters of both Parties took the law into their hands and besieged the National Offices of the Electoral Commission to “avoid any tampering with the figures”. This extra-legal pressure on election administration was a clear breach of the Code.
Lastly, in Gushegu, near Tamale, an ethnic conflict took the nature of a political conflict and led to widespread abuses of the Code such as reprisal attacks on Party supporters and offices.

LESSONS LEARNED AND WAY FORWARD
The National Enforcement Body must be established at least one (1) year before the Elections. This would give them more time to conduct extensive outreaches and educational programmes. This would also make them more pro-active.
Secondly, the budget line for the National Enforcement Body should be increased. This will allow for strategic interventions and follow-ups such as in the case of Gushegu.