Promoting Free and Fair Elections in Ghana

The conduct of free and fair democratic elections has gained currency around the world as the most viable option of choosing leaders. This has transcended to Africa where the third wave of democratization has been seen almost in all countries on the continent embracing this process. In all these elections the role of the media as the fourth realm of the estate has been found to be very paramount. The repeal of the criminal libel law in 2001 has ensured the growth and entrenchment of the Ghanaian media as a key stakeholder in the democratic process. An extensive examination of the role of the media in the electoral process in Ghana is thus deemed necessary in order to ascertain the extent to which the media has been able to contribute to the promotion of free and fair elections over the period. By employing the methodological approach of content analysis of some selected major newspapers, this study attempted to compare the 2008 and the 2016 general elections in Ghana in a bid to find out the commonalities and differences of the role played by the media in these elections and how it has contributed to the growth and advancement of democracy over the period.