Ahead of Election 2024: Be firm, fair, transparent - Rev. Markwei charges EC

The General Overseer of Living Streams International, Rev. Dr Ebenezer Markwei, has urged the Electoral Commission (EC) to be firm, fair and transparent in its activities as the country heads for the December 7 elections. He commended the EC for its previous works, but said the bar going into this year’s general election should be raised higher to ensure acceptance and ultimately ensure peace.

Rev. Dr Markwei’s advice comes as the stakes are higher in the December 7 general election, with the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) seeking to go beyond the eight-year ruling cycle,  and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) eyeing a comeback after eight years in opposition.

The respected preacher stated that being the gatekeeper, the EC needed to conduct this year’s polls in a much more transparent manner to ensure that whoever was declared the winner would be easily accepted by the losing side.    

“The EC must know that they are gatekeepers, and whether there will be violence or not in this year’s election, it will be dependent on them. Irrespective of political affiliations, political chicanery and other machinations, the EC must call a spade a spade. There must not be any question marks around the election that will raise the anger of the electorate,” Rev. Dr Markwei said in an exclusive interview with the Daily Graphic in Accra. 

Article 43 (1) of the 1992 Constitution sets up the EC. Since the onset of the Fourth Republic, the EC has conducted eight general elections, resulting in the changing of power from one government to another, with the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) alternating places at the seat of government.

The outcome of the 2012 presidential election was challenged in court by the NPP while the NDC challenged the 2020 result, amid tense moments.

Against that backdrop, Rev. Dr Markwei underscored the need for the EC Chairperson and the other commissioners to rise above any circumstances that could raise trust issues in the electoral process.

“It should not be that on their watch, this country collapses. If that happens, God will hold them responsible,” he added.

Touching on security, the clergyman urged the security agencies, especially the Ghana Police Service, to prioritise the security of the country before, during and after the December 7 polls.

Rev. Dr Markwei said the security agencies must be aware that they owed the citizens a duty of protection. 

“You took a vow to protect the interests of the country, not to keep the security of tenure of politicians. You are serving this country and not politicians who will come and go,” he stressed.

Rev. Dr Markwei said although the two main political parties — the NDC and the NPP — were determined to win the elections, they must prioritise the peace of the country by not engaging in acts that would create violence.

He particularly expressed concern over the manner in which politicians from the two main parties engaged in utterances and actions that raised the political temperature and appeared to threaten the peace of the country.

“The tendency towards violence is a reality that the people must not overlook,” he said.

Rev. Dr Markwei, however, expressed happiness that in spite of all the challenges facing the conduct of peaceful elections, God would help the country to avoid any prophecies of bloodshed.

“There is a God up there who can overrule the dark clouds gathering and speak into the cloud that the elections will be peaceful and it will be quiet.

“It will go beyond the expectations and prophetic declarations of people, and it is all depends on our prayer power to avert disaster,” he said.

Asked about his advice to politicians ahead of the upcoming elections, Rev. Dr Markwei reminded politicians that trust from the people, which was not exacted but earned, hinged on a number of things they did.

Rev. Markwei said it was true that various governments had made several promises to the people but had failed to keep many of them.

He, therefore, advised Ghanaians to realistically weigh the promises politicians made to them before electing them. 

“Citizens must look at the personality of politicians, the promises they make, whether they can keep them and the proof of the things they have done in the past”.

“Each of the two most powerful political parties made promises and we must evaluate the promises made by former President John Mahama and Dr Mahamudu Bawumia whether they kept them and use those to decide,” he stated.

“Let us be realistic and think and not just vote by the colour of a political party,” he stressed.

On the economy, Rev. Dr Markwei said the real state of the economy had been “staring us in the face daily”. 

He said if the people found it difficult to pay their children’s school fees and put daily bread on the table, they reserved the right to complain.

The clergyman said anybody who would attempt to describe the economy as being in good state would be “a liar”.

“The Vice-President gave us certain indices to assess the economy with, such as checking the price of fuel at the pump, the money in our pockets and the exchange rates. So, anybody who says our economy is okay is a liar, and I would say without fear or favour that the economy is not in good shape,” Rev. Dr Markwei said.

He, however, expressed the optimism about a new day when something good would happen to the economy. 

“The economy is tough for people but I choose to believe God that people will put their trust in God to help sustain our economy,” the Living Streams Ministries founder said.