| dc.description.abstract | ABSTRACT The hope for peace, stability, and development which led many African countries in the 1990s to fight for multi-party democracy is being dashed away by the persistent violence experienced during general elections. However, in the midst of many countries’ experience of electoral chaos, Ghana is regarded as the bastion of peace and an example of a maturing democracy in Africa. Ghana is regarded as such because, since its return to a Multi-Party Democracy in 1992, Ghana has held six relatively successful elections, free of the magnitude of violence experience in other Africa countries. Scholars observing the trend in Ghana have argued that churches and church institutions in Ghana contribute to the peace of Ghana, particularly, during elections. This study, therefore, sought to explore the role of a church institution in electoral peace in Ghana with a specific focus on the involvement of one Church Council in the 2012 general election. As a qualitative research, data was collected through interviews and focused group discussions. Interviews were conducted with four members of the Church Council and ten pastors from four member churches of the Council. Also, four focused group discussions were organized from the same four member churches as the ten pastors. The data focused on the involvement of the Church Council in the 2012 general election. The study found that the Church Council independently and or in collaboration with other stakeholders made contributions toward peace in the 2012 general election. The Church Council’s initiatives during the 2012 general election include public voter education, election observations, and parallel vote tallying. The Council also engaged the political parties in discussions and negotiations, and organized national prayers and made interventions where necessary to avert violence during the election. In spite of these contributions, it has been argued that the involvement of the Church Council leaders and other church leaders, in general, is gradually politicizing the churches in Ghana. Some acts of this politicization include; some church leaders taking sides on political issues as evident in their public utterances, prophesying victory ahead of the election, church leaders’public friendship with politicians, the gradual ethnic polarization among churches and some church leaders supporting politicians from their church denominations/traditions. The study has further argued that based on the experiences of some other African countries, such politicization of the churches could negatively impact the credibility of church leaders. In that, church leaders could lose public respect and influence; they could be sidelined by governments and in extreme cases, church leaders could become implicated in violence instead of contributing to peace. The study has proved to be relevant in contributing to the ongoing discussion on the churches’ contributions to democratic development in Africa, particularly, regarding electoral peace. The study has proved that churches and church institutions can contribute to the peaceful outcome of general elections. However, when churches become politicized, church leaders lose their credibility to contribute to electoral peace. | eng |