The Executive Director for the Savannah Women Integrated Development Agency (SWIDA-Gh), Hajia Alima Sagito-Saeed, has called for an enabling environment free from threats, with full protection for CSOs and the people, where information can be shared, to ensure a violent-free election in 2024.
Hajia Alima made this call during the 2024 Harmattan School, an annual event held at the University for Development Studies (UDS) Tamale Campus.
This year’s theme for the Harmattan School is “Accountable Governance, Violent Extremism, and the 2024 Election”, focusing on contributing to free and fair election 2024 in Ghana.
In her speech at the event, Hajia Alima indicated “sharing information with the citizenry through the media, with the assurance of press freedom, can provide citizens the opportunity to express themselves using constitutional provisions instead of creating mayhem. CSOs provide analysis and expertise, serve as early warning mechanisms and help monitor and implement international agreements, including Agenda 2030 and the Sustainable Development Goals”.
The Executive Director highlighted other aspects of development, as linked to the organizing of successful general elections, including accountable governance, citizen mobilization and movements as constitutional rights, as well as CSO-citizen engagements.
In her conclusion of her speech, Hajia Alima urged CSOs and citizens to combine strengths, for the establishment of more comprehensive and effective approach to ensuring accountability with governance structures.
The 2024 Harmattan school sought to deliberate steps to a successful and violent-free 2024 general elections, where citizens can have trust in the system, to be able to engage and seek accountability from leadership, in the aftermath of the elections.
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