Former President John Dramani Mahama has disclosed that the next National Democratic Congress (NDC) government will open fresh investigations into the deaths that occurred during the 2020 general elections.

He assured to handsomely compensate all the deceased families slamming President Nana Addo Dankwa for neglecting the deceased families.

The country recorded some electoral violence in the 2020 elections which resulted in deaths.

Mr. Mahama made this promise when he addressed branch and constituency executives of both Lower West Akyem and Upper West Akyem constituencies at Asamankese to climax his 3-day tour of the Eastern Region.

“Eight persons died during the 2020 general elections. Up till now our President [Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo] has not sent his condolences to the deceased families. God willing when we win the 2024 general elections, we will surely investigate this matter. Parents who lost their children will handsomely be compensated. We know we cannot exchange money for human beings but this will serve as a consolation to them,” Ex-President Mahama pledged.

CDD-Ghana forum on 2020 electoral violence

The Ghana Center for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana), with support from the West Africa Network for Peacebuilding (WANEP), and in collaboration with the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) in February 2022 organised a forum for victims and families affected by the 2020 electoral violence, the Ghana Police Service, the National Peace Council, political parties and the media.

CDD-Ghana, under its ‘Post-Elections Accountability on Elections Security’ project, has been tracking the status of electoral violence cases recorded in the 2020 elections in 11 Constituencies from six out of the 16 administrative regions in Ghana.

The project seeks to advocate for the speedy resolution of all the cases to engender public trust in the security and criminal justice system and limit the tendency for potential reprisal attacks in future elections.

As part of efforts to achieve this goal, the forum was organized to help bridge the gap between the victims/families and the State, security agencies, and criminal justice institutions to engender trust amongst them in the pursuit of justice.

It also sought to provide the victims and affected families a safe space to share their stories and challenges in seeking justice while giving them access to credible information from key stakeholders on their respective cases.