On Monday, the US State Department announced it will impose visa restrictions on individuals responsible for undermining democracy in Ghana. This decision comes as the country prepares for presidential and parliamentary elections scheduled for December 7.
For nearly two decades, Ghana has conducted peaceful, free, fair, and transparent elections. However, allegations of voter roll irregularities this year have raised concerns about a potential democratic backslide.
The upcoming December polls will mark the ninth consecutive general election since the country’s return to multi-party democracy in 1992.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was quoted as saying that the visa policy announced on Monday would be directed only at people “who undermine democracy” and not at the government or people of Ghana.
In September, Ghana’s biggest opposition party, the National Democratic Congress (NDC), held nationwide protests demanding an audit of the voter roll, alleging that thousands of unauthorised transfers and removals of voter names had been detected.
The current President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, will not seek re-election this year as he concludes his second and last four-year term.
The electoral commission has cleared thirteen candidates to participate in the presidential election.
However, analysts think it will primarily be a contest between former President John Dramani Mahama and Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia.
