MULTIPARTY ELECTORAL VIOLENCE AND DEMOCRATIC DEVELOPMENT OF THE JIRAPA MUNICIPALITY

Abstract

Ghana has witnessed significant democratic progress over the past two decades with remarkable success in the country’s electoral history. Regardless of the achievements in the consolidation of democracy, elections in Ghana are invariably plagued by localized violence that threatens the peace, security and stability of the country. The aim of this study was to investigate electoral violence and socio-economic development of the Jirapa Municipality. The research design was cross sectional approach, the study adopted the mixed method approach with residents of the municipality of voting age, various political party executives, the Electoral Commission (EC), National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) and the Security Council as its units of analysis. Cluster sampling techniques Questionnaire were used to select 188 voters while semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15 other stakeholders (Party executives, Electoral Commission, NCCE and the Security Council). The questionnaire was analyzed using central tendencies (means, standard deviations, frequencies) with the assistance of Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). Again, to test for linearity of variables, Chi-Square and cross-tabulations were performed. The results of the study revealed that most of the electoral violence was caused by youth employment, also laws of punishment for electoral is not deterrence. The study recommends the need to give sustainable jobs to the youth to discourage them from engaging in electoral violence. Again, vigilantes’ groups should be disbanded by government and political parties as they appeared to be the conduit of electoral violence. Again, interparty advisory committee must be formalized and becomes authoritative for all political process recommended.