Catholic bishops support reorganising the appointment procedures for the Electoral Commission.
In order to guarantee the independence of the Electoral Commission (EC), the Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference (GCBC) has pushed for a reconstitution of its appointment procedures.
The request was made by Reverend Matthew Gyamfi, the president of the GCBC and the bishop of the Sunyani Diocese, during a courtesy call on President John Dramani Mahama at the Accra Presidency.
In addition to congratulating the President on his overwhelming win in the general election held on December 7, 2024, the bishops were at the White House to bring a long list of national issues to his attention, including the threat posed by illegal mining, educational reform, governance, and electoral changes.
In order to safeguard public employees, Rev. Gyamfi also demanded that the procedures for deploying election security be changed, that an independent commission for democratic integrity be established with prosecution authority, and that the civil service charter be institutionalised.
He suggested creating a biannual inter-party meeting with traditional and faith-based leaders at its helm.
He told the President that the Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference members were just getting back from a meeting in Dakar, Senegal, which included all of the Catholic bishops from West Africa and the ECOWAS region, which includes Burkina Faso, Guinea, Mali, and Senegal.
He mentioned that all of the bishops had intense conversations on the current state of affairs in our subregion and their perspectives from the grassroots up.
He claimed that this was the reason they felt obliged to address the growing disenchantment among the populace of the subregion and even their own nation.
While still strong by international standards, electoral turnout had fallen from 85 percent in 2016 to 60.9% in 2024, according to Rev. Gyamfi, who reaffirmed that confidence in democratic institutions was eroding.
“This decline in voter turnout is telling a lot and highlights a growing disengagement among the electorate, especially and dangerously among the youth,” he said.
More concerningly, he added, many young Ghanaians today express disenchantment with politics as a means of bringing about genuine change, and the lower turnout reflects larger worries about the effectiveness of democratic institutions in tackling urgent national issues.
He asserted that it is necessary to challenge the idea that politics is exclusive and transactional.
He declared, “We must make democracy work through policy, equity, and inclusion, not just occasionally at the polls.”
“Mr. President, we have challenges with national unity,” he added. The animosity between partisan, ethnic, and regional divides has grown as political polarisation has escalated. In hotspot areas, vigilantism, chief tenancy issues, and land disputes continue to exist. There is still electoral violence in our democracy.
According to Rev. Gyamfi, electoral violence has persisted throughout all general elections and the majority of by-elections in Ghana, despite the country having successfully held nine elections between 1992 and 2024 and peacefully transitioned from one government to another four times during the fourth republic.
According to Rev. Gyamfi, the CDD Ghana study showed that out of 76 incidents that occurred during the 2024 election, 24 involved the destruction, seizure, vandalism, and invasion of public institutions, while 46 involved injuries and six involved fatalities.
He added that accusations of political retaliation and partisan dismissals against succeeding regimes, all of which lasted for 32 years, were also made.
In order to rationalise Article 71 payments and tie public service compensation to national equity, the bishops urged President Mahama to take advantage of the overwhelming support that Ghanaians had given him, as well as the NDC’s (the ruling National Democratic Congress) control of Parliament.
He encouraged the government to pass campaign funding restrictions with independent audits, extend and depoliticise the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), and give labour-intensive infrastructure projects top priority.
In light of these developments, he said, it is essential that states and the church work together more closely to promote civic involvement and education.
According to him, they might endeavour to restore public confidence and guarantee that democracy benefits the prosperity of all Ghanaians by reaffirming the principles of accountability and participatory governance.
Rev. Gyamfi stated, “As shepherds of souls, we are called to guide, remind, and raise our voice when the nation’s conscience trembles, but we do not seek to govern.”
“Mr. President, let us create a politics that serves the people, not ourselves,” he continued. a politics that prioritises the well-being of the weakest over the survival of the strongest. a politics in which governing is a moral calling as well as a performance.
