Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy

Last week top representatives of political parties in Ghana have signed a 13-point joint communiqué in which they affirm their commitment to the political parties' Code of Conduct. They also agreed on the establishment of an Inter Party Monitoring Committee to monitor and report breaches of the code.

Drafted in April 2004 with assistance of NIMD’s Ghanaian partner, the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), the Code provides that political parties refrain from making inflammatory statements during the campaign period leading up to the parliamentary and presidential elections in December this year. The Code also stipulates that political parties and candidates participating in the polls shall extend full cooperation to election officials on polling day in order to ensure a peaceful, orderly vote.

The joint communiqué was signed by the leadership of all political parties at the end of a workshop hosted by the IEA in Accra on May 6. In a public statement the signatories avowed that they would work with law enforcement agencies to enforce the Code of Conduct and called on other stakeholders to work together towards achieving peaceful elections.