By Mathias HOUNKPE and Olivier BUCYANA 

I. Background

In the Republic of Ghana, the first thirty years of its existence were mostly characterized by military rule interspersed with two brief periods (1969-72 and 1979-81) of regimes that were more or less freely elected. However, from January 1993 Ghana established its Fourth Republic through the adoption of a new constitution which provided for liberal democratic institutional arrangements. Since then, the country has held six multi-party elections (with at least two alternations of power) making this latest republic the longest serving civilian regime in the country’s history.

Ghana’s institutions have also shown great capacity in dealing with some of the challenges that are (as in most new democracies) sources of instability and/or violence. For instance, they have known two closely contested elections (2008 and 2012) where the defeated party gracefully accepted the results with little or no upheaval. In the case of the latter elections, the Supreme Court had to eventually intervene and decide the winner, after which the ruling was unanimously accepted. Another example was Ghana’s smooth transition of power with the passing away of the Late Professor Atta Mills in 2012. Here we witnessed an entirely seamless transition of power, quite contrary to what is often experienced in other ‘democracies’ in the region.

Ghana’s 1992 Constitution has provided for the establishment of an Electoral Commission (EC), which has played a notable role in appeasing electoral tension and ensuring smooth changes in power. The EC is an independent body in charge of the policy making and the management of electoral activities in Ghana. Its functions include the compilation of register of voters and the demarcation of electoral boundaries for national and local government elections. The EC also oversees the conduct and supervision of all public elections and referenda. In addition, it is also in charge of educating all Ghanaian citizens on the electoral process and its purpose, as well as undertaking programmes for the expansion of the registration of voters[1].

While at its establishment in 1993, the EC was viewed with public suspicion (especially from the then opposition parties), it used proactive and pro-transparency reforms and initiatives to quickly win the confidence of political actors and the general public. For example, by establishing the Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC), a body consisting of representatives of various political parties, some CSOs (as observers) and members of the EC (a channel of information between the Commission and parties), greater consensus on contested electoral issues in the country has been built.

The adoption of a biometric voter registry and the use of voter verification machines are also recent EC-initiated measures to help increase transparency of the electoral process. However, it is worth noting that despite these positive measures, public trust in the EC has decreased somewhat in recent years,[2] This dwindling trust can be explained, among other things, by the 2012 general elections petition and what it unveiled as serious flaws in the management of the elections by the EC, such as the mistakes in replacing the deputy chairs of the Commission who retired in 2014, the challenges confronting the Commission in the organization of the district level elections and lastly the fact that some stakeholders see the new Chair of the EC as not having past experience in elections and being too close to the ruling party…

In Ghana, the youth –aged between 15 and 35 – represent an important segment of the country’s population. According to 2010 population census estimates, the youth represents about 35 per cent of Ghana’s population and are seen by every stakeholder – from government officials and state institutions to civil society organizations and development partners – as an important human resource with the potential to contribute significantly to national development, and therefore must be accorded such recognition and be involved in national development by government and other stakeholders…[3] The inherent value Ghana places in its youth population is also clearly exemplified in the government’s own efforts. For example, there is a national youth policy which provides the conceptual framework to direct major stakeholders (including the youth themselves) to work towards youth participation in national development. In addition, there are state institutions – like the EC – whose members and clients include youth; there are civil society organizations (CSOs) which provide interventions that directly target the youth and all major political parties in Ghana have ‘youth wings’ on most campuses.

II. Youth Participation in Politics and Elections

Youth participation in Ghana goes back as far as the precolonial era and has mostly consisted in being “forces”/“engines” of change that have made demands for regime alteration. Such driving forces have ensured respect for fundamental rights and safeguarding the very basic needs of its population. In Ghanaian politics, youth groups have been part of the forces that fought for the independence of the country. Protests organized by students against deteriorating conditions on university campuses and the poor state of the economy with its widespread corruption, contributed to the fall of government^[4] in the 70s and is currently witnessing a resurgence as most Ghanaians in the Occupy Ghana Movement (a self-described ´social political non-partisan pressure group with the vision of engaging Ghanaians in development process and ensuring good and responsible governance´[5]) are themselves part of the youth.

In addition to serving as an impressive force of demand, Ghana’s youth is also associated in running State institutions. Because many young people are jobless and poor, politicians manipulate some of them, especially during elections. The latter is exemplified through the use of “foot soldiers” to commit electoral fraud. The youth are on some occasions also used as instruments to implement government policies across the country, the state controlled Young Pioneers or the National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS) in the 70s are prime examples.^[6] In very rare occasions the youth have been involved in the management of the country, as in working as parliamentarians, ministers, or members of local council. For instance, less than 9 per cent of the 275 MPs in Ghana are considered as part of the youth, meaning less than 35 years of age[7] and over 21, the legal age to qualify as a Member of Parliament (MP).

In Ghana, young people play several important roles in relation to electoral processes and their managements. Firstly (and perhaps foremost), young people constitute the majority of the eligible voting population. In 2012, citizens aged between 18 and 35 made up approximately 58.45 per cent of all registered voters.[8] This figure obviously increases if the age bracket is nudged just a few more years. In 2000, for instance, citizens between 18 and 39 comprised some 76 per cent of total registered voters.^[9] Secondly, Ghana’s youth serve as invaluable channels to transmit party messages, either within and/or for political parties. Some youth also serve as “agents” representing parties to monitor all the steps – registration, exhibition, polling and collation – in the electoral process, or as foot soldiers used to intimidate other parties’ members/candidates. Thirdly, Ghana’s youth are often the ones the EC looks to hire as polling staff or electoral and registration agents during election time. And lastly (albeit this role is quite rare), youth may be candidates for elections, especially for legislative and local government elections.

There are several major challenges that prevent effective youth participation in Ghana’s political and electoral spheres, which include:

• Inadequate legal framework for enhanced youth participation: As prescribed by Ghana’s Constitution, the voting age is 18 years. But to (legally) qualify as a member of Parliament (MP) one has to be at least 21 years old and 40 to run for state presidency. This excludes all the young people between 18 and 21 (40 for presidency) from potentially becoming MPs or President of the Republic. In addition, the electoral law does not provide for any quota nor for any other specific positive discrimination in favor of the youth.
• Inadequate timing and coordination of initiatives in favor of youth participation in electoral processes: According to the Constitution, several bodies are in charge of electoral education and the initiatives targeting youth do not extend across the whole electoral cycle. They tend to take place mostly during election period.
• Scarcity of (resource generating/job) opportunities: The resources beyond political positions are scarce. For instance, limited opportunities are available for parliamentarians who decide to retire and possibly join the private sector. For that reason, they prefer staying in office for as long as they can which in itself presents a barrier for the youth to be directly involved in the political life of their country.
• Lack of trust in the youth’s capacity to perform: There is widespread skepticism over the abilities of young people in Ghana, especially in political positions where in addition to technical skills and competence, some level of maturity and capacity to deal with delicate situations are required.
• Manipulation of young people by politicians: A large proportion of young people are ignorant of their rights and of the electoral process which exposes them to the manipulations of politicians.

III. Electoral Management Body (EMB) Entry Points

In Ghana, unique among other “new democracies” in West Africa, the Constitution provides for two main institutions – namely the EC (EMB) and the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE).

The Electoral Commission (EC)

The EC is the sole autonomous public institution whose main mandate is to organize, conduct and supervise all public elections in Ghana. As such, the EC is responsible for managing all the core tasks necessary for the conduct of elections. These include determining who is eligible to vote and registering eligible voters, receiving and validating candidacies, overseeing conduct at polling stations, finally counting and tabulating votes. However, in contrast with many other EMBs in the region, the functions of Ghana’s EC^[10] go beyond the core tasks of elections. They include the policing of political party activities including the supervision of their primaries, the demarcation of electoral boundaries and the conduct and supervision of all public elections (i.e. referenda and trade unions elections). The EC’s functions also cover the provision of civic education on the electoral processes, undertaking of programs for the expansion of voter registration and any other functions as prescribed by law.

When it comes to youth participation in the electoral process, the EC’s role in Ghana is an indirect and informal one. In other words, the EC seeks to educate the youth on the electoral process – not exclusively, but rather as part of the general electorate. In an informal sense, the EC involves the young people in the implementation of some of its tasks, such as being electoral agents (i.e. registration and/or polling agents). The EC assumes this indirect, informal role vis-à-vis the youth mainly because the electoral legislation (Electoral Act and Constitution) does not provide for any specific treatment vis-à-vis this segment of the population when it comes to the EC’s functions and responsibilities. As the EC’s director of training explains, their education work vis-à-vis the population (and hence with respect to youth) is only concerned with “the how of the elections” while the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) looks at the why aspects of elections.

The overall objectives of the EC’s work vis-à-vis the youth are:

• To ensure that young people know how to vote from the registration phase through to voting day; and
• To ensure that these young Ghanaians behave and vote according to electoral regulations.

The EC engaged in various activities, not exclusively targeting the young people, which contribute to promoting youth participation. These, include:

• Seminars, workshops, and sensitization campaigns – on the required steps to participating in the elections (from the registration through to voting);
• Seminars, workshops and sensitization campaigns – on provisions of electoral offences in order to prevent the youth from violating  electoral laws.
• Training and logistics – to make sure young people take part in the management of the electoral process as registration and/or polling agents.

The National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE)

Compared to the EC, the NCCE contributes (more) substantially to youth participation in Ghana’s electoral processes, even though it is not directly involved in the management of activities. Like the EC, the NCCE is also an independent constitutional body, and among its key functions are ´to formulate, implement and oversee programs intended to inculcate in the citizens of Ghana (an) awareness of their civic responsibilities and an appreciation of their rights and obligations as free people´[11]. In fulfilling its mandates, the NCCE takes citizens’ participation, and particularly youth’s participation, very seriously. For instance, its Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF 2014-2016) provides resources for programs aiming to promote citizens’ participation in the electoral process, citizens’ participation in issues of governance at all levels, and women’s empowerment to participate in political development.

 More specifically, when it comes to youth, the NCCE’s MTEF 2014-2016 provides for a whole subprogram targeting youth aged between five and 25 years and aims to inculcate in them the virtues and values of good citizenship. This sub-program covers, among others, activities aimed at nurturing the youth to be good, patriotic citizens; empowering and encouraging them to participate in governance issues at all levels; and creating platforms at the primary, secondary and tertiary levels (and amongst out-of-school youth) to enhance the appreciation of civic duties.

The NCCE’s activities to promote youth participation in elections include:

• Sensitization activities vis-à-vis first time voters (youth);
• Engagement with political party activists and youth wings of political parties on non-violence;
• Support for the establishment and running of Civic Education Clubs;
• Training of young candidates.

IV. State Institutions and Youth Sensitization

Two key activities implemented by the EC and NCCE, respectively, concerns youth sensitization and the training of young political candidates.

Sensitization campaigns by the EC

For reasons previously mentioned, young people are exposed to manipulation, particularly by politicians during election periods. Some of them are the instruments used by politicians to commit electoral fraud and to intimidate political adversaries. Therefore, in the pre-election period, the EC specifically targets the youth through sensitization campaigns in order to prevent electoral fraud and violence. 

The youth are sensitized to prevent them from being easily swayed by politicians to engage in unlawful and sometimes violent actions. The youth’s behavior during elections can be either on their own accord, or through pressure exerted by parties and candidates. As such, the EC expects that through its targeted sensitization events (seminars, workshops, etc.) it can contribute to the prevention of election-related conflicts by informing the youth about the electoral processes. More specifically, these seminars and workshops raise young people’s awareness on the necessary steps to enjoy their voting rights. Furthermore, they enhance young people’s education on behaviors and on unlawful actions, such as underage voter registration, the disruption of authorized campaign rallies or on sanctions provided for by law for would-be offenders.

In implementing these activities, the Electoral Commission engages youth groups in places where they are the ‘most accessible’. For instance, the EC engages political parties to reach members of their youth wings and young people affiliated with and/or working for parties/candidates during election times (the aforementioned “foot soldiers” are a good example). The EC also engages with churches, either by passing messages during masses in churches and/or by sending resource persons to election-related events organized by religious leaders. They adopt similar tactics with youth-based civil society organizations (CSOs) or those holding elections-related activities targeting young people. Aside from reaching youth through the above-mentioned stakeholders, the EC also organizes direct sensitization campaigns that target young people on the same topics mentioned earlier and use radio, TV and even posters to transmit their messages. 

Unfortunately, the EC does not take any specific actions in order to measure effectiveness of the initiatives and the results achieved.  

Activity by the National Commission for Civic Education

In the pre-election period, the NCCE initiates trainings targeting candidates, with specific attention for young candidates.

The trainings aim was mainly to raise candidates’ awareness and deepen their understanding on major issues including their roles and responsibilities and the legal and institutional frameworks of their mandates if elected. The initiatives by the NCCE also include meetings between candidates and electorates to allow citizens to share their concerns and needs with future office holders. These meetings are held for legislative candidates and in each one of the country’s constituencies they gather candidates competing for the parliamentary seat in this specific constituency and their delegates and electorates.

The lack of sufficient financial resources and logistical problems are part of the challenges faced by the NCCE while organizing this activity. People’s apathy – i.e. lack of interest and efforts it takes to get them to the meetings – is also one of the major difficulties hampering the implementation of this initiative. It is also worth mentioning that candidates usually show interest in this type of activity and are often willing to participate. 

V. Challenges and Lessons Learned

The challenges by the EC – and to some extent by the NCCE – in its engagement to promote youth participation in electoral processes are the following: 

• Disempowerment: The youth’s feeling that participation is not going to make any difference. Young people tend to believe that their voice is not going be heard and even if it is heard, it is not going to be accounted for. This contributes, at least partly, to the youth’s lack of interest (apathy) in the electoral process.
• Apathy: The youth’s lack of interest in actively taking part in the political life of their country. The way young people are engaged during electoral processes does not give them the incentive to participate. Be it by the EC or by the NCCE, young people are targeted during elections period primarily in a “negative” way. Most of the activities targeting young people (sensitizations, awareness raising, etc.)  aim to prevent them from wrongdoings and have mostly to do with providing information on “dos” and “don’ts” for peaceful elections. It is very rare that they are targeted in a “positive” way that is in such a way to increase their capacities to contribute not only to the quality of elections but also to the consolidation of democracy. This could be improved through direct engagement with youth groups early enough in the electoral cycle to allow meaningful and relevant engagements with them.
• Lack of capacity: Low capacity of the youth to engage on specific issues with key stakeholders, especially political actors is another important challenge.
• Lack of adequate resources: Financial resources are limited and for that reason both the EC and the NCCE face logistic problems. The latter is especially recognized by all for not having enough resources for its activities (including from donors). However, the lack of resources cannot explain the whole story, it is also about priority.
• Lack of effective coordination: Two constitutional bodies – namely the EC and the NCCE – should to be involved in engagements with citizens/youth during election time. However, there is no formal coordination between both, leaving gaps and hence failing to capitalize on opportunities to synergize activities.

VI. Recommendations

• Youth engagement must be seen as an ongoing program; one to be run throughout the whole electoral cycle. This will avoid any “last minute” or ad hoc types of youth electoral engagement and will ensure that young people are targeted at all stages of the electoral processes, for instance in the legislative reforms stage. It will also help ensure that substantive needs, such as the preparation of potential youth candidates, are done in a timely manner. For instance:
• Advocacy can be conducted towards MPs – by the EC, the NCCE but also CSOs involved in election works – for the inclusion of provisions in the electoral legislations on youth’s participation;
• Youth participation must go beyond awareness-raising about the voting process and the prevention of election-related violence and conflicts. The youth must also be seen as a positive force able to meaningfully contribute to credible elections. For instance:
• The EC and the NCCE (or jointly) can engage youth groups earlier in the electoral cycle in order to identify specific needs in order to design and implement interventions likely to ensure effective and “positive” youth participation. This early engagement can help identify adequate channels/media through which to reach the youth more effectively. This can also help gain a better understanding of activities to be implemented in order to enhance issues-based interactions between the youth and candidates/parties;
• Youth, especially political parties’ youth wings, should be engaged – by the NCCE but also by domestic and/or international NGOs – on key issues for meaningful elections (e.g.: draft of manifestos, communication with voters based on manifestos, how to do political debates, etc.)
• Young candidates must be taken seriously. Efforts should be made in collaboration with political parties to strengthen the NCCE’s work with young candidates. This means at least two things:
• Planning activities for potential/aspirant youth candidates in order to prepare them for a meaningful participation in the electoral process
• Engaging newly elected young office holders with programs likely to help them get quickly on the job endowed with necessary capacities

These activities should involve mostly experience sharing and be conducted by the domestic and/or international NGOs or by the NCCE.

• A coordination and collaboration between the NCCE and the EC on the engagement of youth in election time will be really helpful. Meetings to foster joint planning will increase the level of collaboration between both institutions. Like the EC does with some of the electoral process stakeholders (e.g. political parties through the IPAC), the commission should look into holding periodical meetings with the NCCE - especially in post-elections phase to engage the youth on some of the substantive questions - on issues relating to youth involvement in elections. Within an environment of limited resources, the later will help ensure the complementarity of initiatives and the necessary synergy in targeting the youth in joint activities whenever possible.

VII. Annex 1: List of References

1.    Amadu Musah Abudu & Moses Naiim Fuseini, ´Civic Awarenss and Engagement in Ghana: The Curricular Implication´, European Scientific Journal, Volume 10, No. 4, February 2014

2.    CODEO, ´Citizens participation in Elections in Ghana: lessons from the 2012 elections. Perspectives from a Youth-oriented organization´, CODEO review workshop, march 25-26, 2013

3.    Goerge M. Bob-Milliar, ´Party Youth Activists and Low-Intensity Electoral Violence in Ghana: A qualitative Study of Party Foot Soliders’ Activism´, African Studies Quarterly, Volume 15, Issue 1, December 2014.

4.    Ghana Electoral Commission – http://www.ec.gov.gh/about-ec/

5.    Harrison Belley, ´The Concept of Civic Education Clubs (CECs), in Ghana´, Best Practices Manual on Democracy Education

6.    IDEA, ´Youth Participation in Politics and Elections´, Annual Democracy Forum, 2013

7.    Minister of Youth and Sports of Ghana, ´National Youth Policy: Towards an Empowered Youth, Impacting Positively on National Development´, August 2010.

8.    National Commission for Civic Education Act – 1993 (Act 452)

9.    National Commission for Civic Education, ´Medium Term Expenditure Framework for 2014-2016´, 2014

10.  Ransford Edward Van Gyampo & Franklin Obeng-Odoom, ´Youth Participation in Local and National Development in Ghana: 1620-2013´

11.  Ransford Edward Van Gyampo, ´The Youth and Political ideology in Ghanaian Politics´, …

12.  UNDP, ´Enhancing youth Political Participation throughout the Electoral Cycle: A Good Practice Guide´, 2012