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 Mr John Kudalor — The IGP
Mr John Kudalor — The IGP

Women Situation Room to collaborate with Police to deal with election violence

Women Situation Room (WSR), a not-for-profit organisation, is planning to collaborate with the Ghana Police Service and other stakeholders involved in the country’s electoral process to deal with any violent acts that may occur during the general election on December 7.

The group, which is funded by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), is a women-led organisation fighting electoral violence in Africa and an advocate of peace on the continent. 

As part of its plans, WSR is hoping to partner the Electoral Commission (EC) and also mobilise 100,000 Ghanaian women to undertake a national peace walk before the polls. The walk would be used to drum home the message of peace. 

The initiator of the WSR, Chancellor Yvette Chesson-Wureh, a Liberian, stated at the introduction of the regional hub of WSR in Kumasi last Wednesday that the Ghana branch of the organisation was also expected to be launched before the election in order to make their work more credible.

The WSR was founded in 2011 in Liberia following experiences derived from the civil war in that country and is replicated in four other Africa countries. They are  Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Uganda and Kenya.

Over 100 women from different women groups in Ghana have been recruited for an exercise to brainstorm on the uniqueness of Ghana’s political climate.

Chancellor Chesson-Wureh said WSR would identify flashpoints and assist the EC on some critical aspects of its work such as ensuring that ballot papers arrived on time on election day. 

The group intends to employ skilled people in Information Technology (IT) and provide communication gadgets to its volunteers who are expected to give on-the-spot reports on the ground as a means of helping to stamp out false reports from interest groups. It hopes to work to present the true state of affairs to the EC on election day. 

A WSR International Coordinator, Barbara Sangare, said just as was done in other countries, the group would rely on women of status and other high-profile individuals who would be tagged as the ‘group of the wise,’ who would be expected to use their influence to drum home the message of peace.

The WSR intends to deal with issues regarding media reportage and coverage and election observation.

 

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