Christian groups doubting whether credible November elections can take place in Ghana

Christian groups in Ghana are not very confident on the capability of the country's Electoral Commission to hold a credible general election in November.

"The Electoral Commission bears the primary responsibility to conduct free, fair, transparent and credible elections in Ghana," said the Christian Council of Ghana and the Ghana Catholic Bishops' Conference in a joint statement, as quoted by Peace FM Online. " Therefore, we expect the Commission to engender confidence among all players and continue to remain neutral, fair, honest and transparent in all its actions and decisions."

They are calling on the EC to further explain its actions and to clarify different aspects of the electoral system, such as biometric verification, the clearing of the voter register as directed by the Supreme Court, the proposed Steering Committee, the reforms submitted by the Reforms Committee, among others.

"The proposed November 2016 elections may seem to be far but they are not," the groups said. "Thus, we appeal to the EC to act expeditiously and come up with a clear roadmap for the impending elections."

The two Christian groups also called on the political parties and their supporters "to be circumspect and decorous" in what they say and do. They believe that some politicians and their parties "will do anything and everything to win political power at all cost" due to the problems related to the limited registration exercise.

"We are distressed and worried by the current display of political impunity and complacency evident in intimidation, accusations, counter-accusations, hate speeches, intra-party and inter-party violence, threats of kidnapping and murder, among others," they said.

The statement was reportedly signed by Most Rev. Joseph Osei-Bonsu, the president of the Ghana Catholic Bishops' Conference, and Most Rev. Titus K. Awotwi Pratt, the vice chairman of the Christian Council of Ghana, during their Annual Joint Meeting last week in Kaneshie, Accra. They also tackled the Postal Packets and Telecommunication Messages Bill 2015 aka the Spy Bill, the three- and four-year duration of senior high school, leakages and malpractices in the education sector, as well as the erratic power supply.

The general elections will be held on Nov. 7 wherein a new president and members of parliament will be elected.