The Christian Council of Ghana has launched a Voter Education and Monitoring Project as part of its social responsibility towards peaceful elections in December. The project is to be implemented in 15 districts in the Greater Accra, Eastern and Northern Regions. It is being funded by the Church Development Service, an association of Protestant Churches in Germany with EUR120,000, as parts of its contribution towards free and fair elections.
The General Secretary of the Christian Council, Rev. Dr. Fred Deegbe, expressed the need for the citizens to be kept informed about the upcoming elections and to be able to express their choice clearly and properly. He said it is painful as election observers to see people struggling to know what to do or watch ballots being rejected during the counting process. He said in 2004 188,123 representing 2.3% of votes were rejected as compared to 1.8% in 2000. He urged Christians to register and come out in their numbers to vote on December 7 as part of their civic responsibility.
The Executive Director of the West African Network for Peace Building, Emmanuel Bombande, said people from all ethnic or religious background should be able to choose leaders without violence. He urged government to invest in the prevention of conflicts, since without peace the country cannot achieve her millennium development goals.
The Metropolitan Catholic Archbishop of Accra, Most Rev. Charles Palmer Buckle, was hopeful that Ghana would again meet the high expectations of other countries to conduct peaceful elections. A representative of the German Embassy, Frank Blance, later handed the keys of a four wheel drive to the Chairman of the Christian Council of Ghana, and Moderator of the General Assembly, of the Presbyterian Church, Rev. Dr. Frimpong-Manso.
