STAR-Ghana’s first call for grant proposals supported initiatives promoting peaceful, credible, issues-based and inclusive presidential and parliamentary elections for Ghana in 2016. Out of the 219 organisations that responded to the call, 35 were awarded grants totalling $US2,216,167.
At an end of project event in March 2017, STAR’s Election 2016 grant partners were asked what learning they would take away.
Influence
Through its STAR-Ghana project, Abantu for Development found that political parties are critical actors in promoting women’s rights, participation and representation in elections as they have the power to make public appointments. They also believe media are vital.
ISODEC, a Ghanaian, rights-based public policy research and advocacy organisation, learned that political parties seemed to be much more organised and have greater pulling power on constituents than civil society organisations (CSOs). ‘Political parties tended to respond to opportunities to reach out to larger audiences.’
Socioserve Ghana noted: ‘In dealing with politicians one has to be tolerant and accommodating because they can be very abrasive. They see things from a very different perspective so one needs to understand this to be able to work with them.’
The African Women Lawyers Association (AWLA) came away with a sense that pre-project engagement should reach the highest levels in every institution, especially public institutions. It also suggested that grant partners needed to be ready to adapt to changing conditions or risk not achieving project objectives.
Global Action for Women Empowerment (GLOWA) learned that engaging district assemblies and other government institutions requires long lead times, tact, diplomacy and strong follow-up. ‘Partnering with the media, especially radio, is very critical and beneficial for election-related projects,’ the organisation said. ‘Using committed volunteers and existing structures … is very useful in reaching out to the larger population.’
Multimedia Group Limited recognised that traditional leaders continue to be key influencers in target areas and that collaboration with local police helped keep the peace even when supporters were ‘charged’. Using citizen journalist as local language translators helped steer meaningful discussion.
The National Catholic Secretariat learned that the credibility of faith groups can be enhanced by providing empirical evidence of their actions.
Selecting highly respected individuals as members of its regional media advisory committees worked for the National Media Commission as they can have a moral authority to help settle complaints.
Collaboration
The Bawku East Women's Development Association (BEWDA) learned that information sharing between stakeholders at all levels in the electoral processes maintains trust and confidence.
Citi 97.3FM reflected that having like-minded partners can lead to positive results and more effective project delivery. Meanwhile, independent television channel TV3 Ghana realised pooling resources with other organisations doing similar work helped to avoid duplication of effort and resources.
Financial Accountability and Transparency Africa (FAT-AFRICA) said it had learned it was possible to have a successful project with just a few, committed stakeholders, that good messages and good messengers are a real asset to a project, and that collaborating with other STAR grant partners had fostered deeper knowledge sharing.
In delivering its project, the Musicians’ Union of Ghana recognised the need to establish national partnerships with key media companies – including STAR grant partners GBC and Multimedia Group Limited – to ensure nationwide publicity.
For Socioserve Ghana, collaboration was key as ‘no single partner has the skill or funding to do all interventions related to elections’.
Tactics
Through its Ghana Decides 2.0: The Voices campaign, Blogging Ghana found multimedia and visual content, including infographics, effectively engages the public. It also noted: ‘State institutions can change their stance. It is worthwhile to revisit possible collaborations even if such collaborations were rejected previously.’
Foundation for Sustainable Development in Africa-Ghana (FSDA) affirmed social media as vital in arousing young people’s interest in projects.
Participation
The Ghana Broadcasting Corporation now places more importance on seeking citizens’ views and voices in providing voter education, key to free and fair elections.
As their project went on, the Ghana Federation of Disability Organisations’ (GFD) noticed a gradual shift from disability issues being an afterthought to greater awareness of disability needs. ‘Strategies for effective mainstreaming is what is lacking and in most cases financial constraints,’ it said. ‘Most stakeholders were not deliberate in excluding people with disabilities, but did so due to lack of adequate knowledge.’
The Institute of Economic Affairs said debates were necessary to the success of every democracy and should be promoted, noting that ‘democratic maturity cannot be achieved overnight’. It also noted the power of social media in stirring up interest and dialogue on key issues.
IDEG on behalf of Civic Forum Initiative realised that community ownership ‘contributes immensely to the success of the project’. Election situation rooms were manned by community members, making the project part of a larger community effort towards ensuring peaceful elections.
Legal Resources Centre (LEAD) and LADA Institute noted that citizens want platforms to interact directly with duty bearers, such as the Electoral Commission and the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), on matters of concern around Ghana’s electoral processes. ‘Stakeholders feel proud to have their input considered during electoral reform processes. Some state institutions are ready and willing to work with CSOs and interact with electorate on matters of concern.’
Monitoring
Royals Health Organisation (ROHEO) noted that the transparency of the lead organisation and timely disbursement of funds from donors to partners increased collaboration and enthusiasm, while consistent monitoring of the project encouraged stakeholders to be more proactive.
Social Initiative for Literacy and Development Program (SILDEP) recognised the effectiveness of using existing community meetings and structures for voter education. Visits and monitoring by STAR-Ghana helped to further strengthen its systems and structures.
Voter education
TRADEAID Integrated, which aims to make trade work for the poor, said intensive education of the electorate by key stakeholders such as the Electoral Commission, NCCE, the media and CSOs is key to reducing the incidence of rejected ballot papers and increasing voter turnout.
Skyy Media Group noted that in Ghana’s recent history efforts to educate the electorate only happen in the year of elections. ‘Voters and the general public are bombarded with information related to the election within a limited time,’ Skyy said. ‘We believe these exercises should not be an event but a continuous process.’
Other key learning
Data analysis organisation ODEKRO learned that ranking MPs is the most valuable tool in engaging Ghanaian citizens on parliament’s work. ODEKRO acknowledged a need to engage with media to encourage coverage of the findings.
Through its STAR-Ghana grant, Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) promoted decent language, aiming to reduce hate speech. The organisation realised a need to engage political parties one-on-one on this to reduce loose or unsavoury comments.
Millennium Child Support Group noted that polling station training needed be more interactive, using role play and scenario-building to increase the capacity of staff to handle election day complaints and prevent violence. ‘Unresolved complaints are one of the main triggers for electoral violence, so the mechanisms to deal with them have to be efficient.’
USCOND learnt that government institutions sometimes lack both human and financial resources and welcome support from CSOs to make their work more effective.
Ghana Integrity Initiative (Lead), Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition (GACC), CDD – Ghana and Citizens Movement Against Corruption (CMaC) learned that goals related to legislative change in the electoral framework in Ghana must be more realistic within a limited timeframe.
CILTAD/Coastal Television’s My Central Agenda Platform (MYCAP) project discovered that people intentionally sell their votes to as many as three different political parties and vote for all three, leading to the ballot being rejected. Working with traditional authorities enhanced the success of the project.