Positioning the Youth to Contribute to Peaceful Elections

By Bala Ali, Information Services Department, Accra

A democratic principle that promotes popular participation, periodic elections are pivotal in governance. This has placed a responsibility on all democratic countries, including Ghana, to adhere to this cardinal principle. Periodic elections do not just offer Ghanaians the opportunity to elect leaders to govern but also to reflect on the socio-economic health of the country, which has a direct correlation with their well-being. This makes elections in Ghana and other democratic countries very crucial.

Unfortunately, elections in Ghana are usually characterised and marred by violence, with the youth at the centre. Unemployment, poverty, and political manipulation are largely responsible for this phenomenon. Taking advantage of these trends, unpatriotic politicians, who prioritise their parochial interests over the nation’s welfare, growth, or development, use their demagoguery prowess to influence the dejected and the youth to engage in this retrogressive act during elections. 

The consequences of politically motivated violence are dire. Violence leads to loss of lives and property. The credibility of the elections is marred. This often results in rejection of the election results, which also come with their own adverse effects. A typical example of this situation is the Techiman South political violence in the 2020 elections, which led to the death of eight souls. In fact, the cost of politically motivated violence to the nation is huge.

Thankfully, several measures can be put in place to dissuade the youth, who are normally used to engage in this act, to be wise. The youth actually hold immense potential to be agents of positive change. Considering the fact that they constitute a significant proportion of the population, apparently the largest, their energies, creativities, and passions can be harnessed for the good of the nation. To ensure peaceful elections, it is imperative to empower the youth to take up constructive roles in the electoral process.

To discourage them from engaging in political violence, measures should be adopted to make them politically informed and actively participate in the democratic process. To this end, they should be engaged in meaningful political discourse to enable them to understand and appreciate development issues. When their knowledge of the political processes and policies of various candidates is deepened, they are less likely to be swayed by political demagogues, who usually play on their minds and emotions to resort to political violence.

In line with making the youth politically informed, civic education will definitely play a critical role. Schools, civil society organisations, and the political parties should educate the youth about the need for peaceful elections. Teaching the youth the values of democracy, rule of law and the importance of peaceful elections will also go a long way to promote the culture of peaceful coexistence. To make it more effective, the education should not only be limited to the classroom but extended to the communities, political discussions, and debates, possibly among youth of different political groups. Healthy political platforms can also be created to enable the youth to freely express their opinions and concerns on national issues in a constructive manner.

Thus, national television and radio stations can consider creating special programmes solely for the youth of the various political divides to discuss national issues, including their role in the electoral process. Creating common social media platforms for the youth to engage in healthy political debates may also help. However, as a double-edged sword, social media can be used for both good and bad. Just as it can be used to promote peace and security in an election year, so can it be used to incite political violence, so the youth would have to be encouraged and checked to use such a powerful platform responsibly.

Law enforcement agencies must be highly strategic in performing their electoral duties. They must be fair and firm towards all the parties. The various political parties should also give the youth hope in their manifestos, by adopting realistic economic policies, geared towards job creation. Politicians should use their political campaign platforms to deepen youth understanding in their manifestos, rather than making inflammable comments to incite them to violence. If the youth get the hope that the outcome of the elections would lead to their economic empowerment, they will definitely not endanger the peace of the nation.

The youth are not only the future of the nation but also the present. Therefore, their actions, inactions, and decisions during elections have a great impact on the peace and security of Ghana. In as much as there could be challenges that make the youth vulnerable to political violence, there are equally numerous opportunities that can be harnessed to position these young ones to contribute to peaceful elections in the December polls and for national progress.

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