CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION
- BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
The consolidation of democratic principles in many nations around the world led to much emphasis being placed on elections (Pereira, 2006). According to Santiso (2001), elections serve as a mechanism through which government attains its legitimacy, authority and credibility. The aftermath of the Cold war led to an increased spread of multi-party competition and holding of elections to elect officials into legislative and executive offices worldwide (Van Ham, 2012). As a result, many of the third world regimes including African authoritarian regimes began to hold a multi-party election with universal suffrage for both executive and legislative offices (Abutudu, 2003).
Elections are accepted worldwide as an effective way of choosing state officials or administrators. Elections have emerged as a tool for the stabilization and democratization of African emerging democracies (Kühne, 2010). However, elections have turned out to be the root cause of some nations’ relapse in their democratization processes (Asante & Asare, 2016). According to Huerta (2014), elections provide a platform where the stability of a country is tested. Free and fair elections can maintain the political stability of a country (Namibia 2005), while disputed election can erupt political violence in a country (Burundi 2015, Cote d’Ivoire 2010, Kenya 2007) (Penar, Aiko, Bentley, & Han, 2016). Losers of an election have the option of either accepting or rejecting the electoral result and to challenge the validity of the outcome in court, protest on the street or both (Chernykh, 2014). Huerta (2014) stated that the behaviour of losing parties in an election is important in the democratic process of a country. He argued that losing parties’ refusal to accept the declared results by the electoral commission could trigger political instability and chaos (Huerta, 2014).
Norman (2012) indicated that there was no record of disputed election during the single-party system in most African countries. During the one-party system era, there was no established institution for addressing electoral grievance and electoral malpractices. Before 1990, there had been no record of a disputed election in Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania. The induction of multiparty elections in Africa introduced challenges to declared electoral results, partly due to disagreement or suspicion over the declared results. Multiparty democracy is characterized by different political ideologies competing for attention during an election. Multiparty democracy creates suspicion and scepticism among competing political parties (Norman, 2012).
Elections in Ghana and other emerging democracies in Africa promote opportunism because winning power ensures wealth and influence and also fosters patrimonialism (Agyeman- Duah, 2000). The first-past-the-post system which is practised in most emerging democracies in Africa establishes a winner-takes-all system. The winner-takes-all system sidelines defeated parties from partaking in the administrative role of government (Maisie, 2012). Political parties, therefore, aim at winning elections at all cost which makes election keenly contested (Maisie, 2012). The highly competitive nature of African presidential elections encourages electoral malpractices (Asunka, Brierley, Kramon, & Ofosu, 2015). Competition in these elections are tense and due to lack of trust and suspicion, elections are characterized by disputed outcomes, boycott and violence (Agyeman-Duah, 2000).
Kühne (2010) stated that without an independent Electoral Commission and effective Election Complaint System, the electoral process risks being rigged by incumbents thereby, lacking credibility in the eyes of the people. The mechanism for electoral dispute resolutions is an integral part of the test for free and fair elections in democratic set-up (Musila, Sihanya, Thiankolu, & Ongoya, 2013). In most democratic countries, constitutional provisions exist
for the resolution of electoral grievances; in the case of Ghana, Article 64 of the 1992 Constitution (Nkansah, 2016) and Kenya, Article 163(3)(a) of the Kenyan Constitution (Musila et al., 2013).
The validity of Ghana’s 2012 presidential election results was challenged by the New Patriotic Party in the Supreme Court in accordance with Article 64 of the 1992 Constitution. The Petition created a highly tense atmosphere as supporters of the two major political parties, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and National Democratic Congress (NDC), were on the verge of explosion, waiting for the least trigger. However, in Ghana’s situation contesting parties decided to subject themselves institutional arrangement made for the resolution of disputed presidential elections (Asante & Asare, 2016).
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
Kuhne (2010) stated that even though elections are major contributor to the stabilisation and democratisation of emerging democracies, elections in emerging democracies have the potential to dive a country into chaos and political unrest, to weaken the processes of stabilisation and bring democracy into disrepute. Often, elections in Africa are poorly organized by ruling government resulting in disputed outcomes as in the cases of Ghana’s 2012 elections and Kenya’s 2007 elections which resulted in violence and bloodshed (Burchard, 2015; Maisie, 2012). Elections in Africa hold a spectre of violence as defeated parties often protest against the credibility of the declared results (Maisie, 2012). Disputed presidential election is not unusual in presidential democracies (Norman, 2012).
According to Huerta (2014), almost a quarter of the democratic presidential elections worldwide from 1974 to 2012 were challenged by losers of the elections. There have been numerous occurences of disputed presidential elections in Africa, examples are Uganda 2001 and 2006, Cote d’Ivoire 2010, Zimbabwe 2008, Ghana 2012, and Kenya 2007, 2013 and 2017
disputed elections (Nkansah, 2016). Boafo-Arthur (2001), Abutudu (2003), Chernykh (2014) and Huerta (2014) have stated that disputed elections have been a major cause of political instability and chaos in Africa. Numerous occurrences of post-election violence, conflicts and civil wars in Africa are as a result of contested election outcomes or rigged election results (Boafo-Arthur, 2001).
Burchard (2015: 13) has stated that “incidental electoral violence occurs as a product of protest around electoral results, either before or after the election.” For example, 1300 people died, several lost their homes, and countless were injured after Kenya’s 2007 general elections (Burchard, 2015). The violence occurred as a result of disagreement over the presidential election results (Atuobi, 2008; Norman, 2012). Likewise, disputed presidential election outcomes have resulted in 86 deaths in Zimbabwe’s 2008 election (Vollan, 2008) and 247 deaths in Cote d‘Ivoire 2010 (Cook, 2011). Controversy over election result was the root cause of post-electoral violence in Kenya (2007) and Zimbabwe (2008) (Matlosa, Shale, & Motsamai, 2009).
The fact that disputing electoral results have the potential to cause political instability means that studying the causes of electoral protest in Africa’s elections becomes relevant (Huerta, 2014)). In Ghana 2012, election results dispute have seemed to contribute to political stability and calm political parties and their supporters as everyone waits patiently for the verdict in court. So the challenges to election results at the Supreme Court, contrary to what happened in some other African countries have rather deterred political chaos and violence in Ghana. The reason for such a phenomenon this study want to solve-– could it be leaders of political parties curbing their supporters’ propensity to violence after the election or the fact that Ghanaians have confidence in their judicial system and therefore wait and accept results of election petitions rather than kill each other? What makes the difference for Ghana, as opposed to Kenya or Zimbabwe, for example? The study seeks to identify the mechanisms through which
the political stability of a country could be maintained after a disputed presidential election and to compare the management of disputed elections in Ghana (2012) and Kenya (2007) with a view to explain political stability in Ghana in contrast to Kenya. The study focuses on disputed presidential elections.
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The study aims to achieve the following objectives, to;
- Explore why electoral results were challenged in Kenya and Ghana, and whether the mechanism adopted contributed to maintaining political stability.
- The role played by political parties and the judiciary in maintaining political stability during an election petition.
- Explore what can be done to improve Ghana’s and Kenya’s electoral process in order to deter or reduce disputed presidential elections in Ghana’s and Kenya’s elections.
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
- The study unearths some weakness associated with Kenya and Ghana’s electoral politics, which influences political parties to challenge election results.
- The study seeks to contribute to an understanding of the democratization process and political stability in Kenya and Ghana.
- It recommends mechanisms that can be put in place to reduce political parties‘ dispute of election results in Kenya and Ghana.
- The study recommends an appropriate way of addressing grievances over electoral results.
RATIONALE AND JUSTIFICATION OF THE STUDY
With the propagation, promotion and consolidation of democracy globally, Ghana and Kenya have performed fairly well in various aspects of good governance particularly the protection of fundamental human rights, and the peaceful transition of power from one political party to the other through elections. In spite of being depicted as the “bastion of democracy” in Africa (Danso & Lartey, 2012), Ghana’s electoral process is characterized by elements or pockets of violence, therefore, it is important to research into these areas. Lack of confidence in the Electoral Commission and electoral irregularities have cause political parties to allege fraud at various stages of the electoral process.
Even though elections are views as mechanisms for strengthening democracy and stability of a country, elections in Africa have turned out to be a trigger of political instability (Kühne, 2010). The recent trend of elections in multiparty democracies in Africa has seen most of the losers complaining that the election was not free and fair (Norman, 2012). Defeated candidates often challenge the outcome of elections; this action opens the door to political instability and chaos. This study will, therefore, come out with findings and recommendations that will help address grievances over electoral results, which will help maintain the political stability that existed before an election.
LIMITATION OF THE STUDY
In conducting this research, the researcher anticipates the following challenges;
- Access to some important information hinder the smooth conduction of the research
- Another challenge anticipated is financial constraints, since the research was not financed, the researcher encountered some difficulties in executing the research especially the field work
- Access to some relevant books and documents was difficult in the University libraries.
THE SCOPE OF THE STUDY
The study is placed within the scope of elections and why political parties challenge election results in court in Kenya and Ghana, as well as the impact of these challenges or disputes on political stability.
