CDD-Ghana has called on the Ghana Police Service and the Office of the Attorney General to expedite action on the cases of violence recorded in the December 2020 polls currently under investigation.

The call is among other recommendations made by the organization in a project report dubbed, Post-Elections Accountability on Elections Security, which tracked progress on some 12 cases of electoral violence.

Two of the cases were in the Ashanti Region (Fomena and Asante Akyem North), three in the Central Region (Awutu Senya East, Ajumako Enyan Essiam and Awutu Senya East), one in the Bono East region (Techiman South), two in the Northern Region (Kpandai and Savelugu), two in the Greater Accra Region (Odododiodoo and Ablekuma Central) and two in the Bono Region (Banda and Dormaa West).

As part of the project, CDD-Ghana and the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), followed up on the cases to validate them at the respective constituencies and Regional Police Commands where the incidents were said to have occurred.

The follow-up was also to ascertain their current status within the justice delivery system. The constituencies and regions were selected based on their record of major electoral violence cases during the 2020 electoral process.

It was found that four of the cases were still in court while three were still under police investigation.

Two of the cases were settled by the parties involved while three of the cases had been forwarded to the Attorney General’s office for advice.

CDD-Ghana is of the view that failing to prosecute and ensure justice, could erode public trust in the security and criminal justice system and increase the tendency for potential reprisal attacks in future elections.

In its recommendations, it said the Ghana Police Service must periodically provide the public with updates on the status of each of the cases as a way of enhancing transparency in the handling of these cases.