Kwesi Jonah
Research Fellow, Institute for Democratic Governance
Elections
Voter Education, Training, Dispute Resolution
voter registration, voter fraud, voter education, vote counting, rural voter registration, registration audit, recruitment, polling supplies, monitoring, media relations, enfranchising marginalized groups, election violence, election security, election schedules, electoral management body, donor relations, dispute resolution, codes of conduct, boundary delimitation
Ashley McCants
Ghana
Accra,
Ghana
Mon Aug 11 2008
Abstract
Kwesi Jonah discusses electoral politics and administration in Ghana. He discusses the choice of electoral system in Ghana, and its relevance to the political climate and culture. He discusses more specifically electoral law and the role of the Election Commission of Ghana (EC) and the judiciary in ensuring fair elections in Ghana. He discusses measures to ensure independence of the EC, including budgetary independence, transparency, media relations, diversity and the role of political parties as advisory, but not decision-making, adjuncts to the EC. Jonah further reflects upon the elections administration in Ghana, speaking about voter registration, voter education, voter identification, monitoring, fraud-prevention and dispute resolution. He reflects upon the role of international donors, Ghanaian nongovernmental organizations and the media in the electoral process. Finally, he considers the challenges faced by Ghana, including election violence, rejected ballots due to insufficient voter education, geographic challenges, bureaucratic hurdles, the representation of minorities, voter fraud and the enforcement of electoral laws.
Full Profile
At the time of the interview, Kwesi Jonah, who holds a doctoral degree, was head of the Department of Political Science at the University of Ghana, Legon, and was also a research fellow at the Institute for Democratic Governance in Accra, Ghana. He has worked on several other projects related to governance.
