- Title
- The Role of Traditional Authorities in the Promotion of Electoral Justice and Peacebuilding in Ghana
- Creator
- Appiah-Thompson, Christopher; Jose, Jim
- Relation
- The Palgrave Handbook of Religion, Peacebuilding, and Development in Africa p. 307-325
- Publisher Link
- http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-36829-5_18
- Publisher
- Palgrave Macmillan
- Resource Type
- book chapter
- Date
- 2023
- Description
- This chapter argues that traditional religious and political authorities, through upholding the values of tolerance, consensus-building and peaceful coexistence, can contribute to strategies for resolving disputed elections when the institutional approach of the Electoral Commission appears to be ineffective. Our argument uses the 1992 disputed presidential elections in Ghana to show how the values embedded in traditional methods of conflict resolution served to instil calm and tolerance. We consider how the norms and values expressed in the traditional religious and philosophical oral texts (the documented proverbs and symbols) inform the ways in which traditional leaders realise the values of peace, tolerance and consensus-building that underpin the political institutions of the Akan people of Ghana. These values are consistent with the goals of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 16: achieving justice and effective, accountable and inclusive institutions. Most of the extant literature on democratisation in Africa has focused almost exclusively on the negative issues associated with traditional political institutions, rather than on the more positive attributes to be detailed in this chapter. The chapter contributes to our understanding of how these traditional practices and understandings can aid in building resilient electoral institutions and the peaceful resolution to potential conflicts.
- Subject
- African religious philosophy; electoral conflict; electoral commission; peacebuilding; democratic governance
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1492924
- Identifier
- uon:53450
- Identifier
- ISBN:9783031368288
- Language
- eng
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