The National Commission on Civic Education (NCCE) recently appealed to Ghanaians not to take Kalyppo fruit juice to the polling station on election day.
Kalyppo became associated with the New Patriotic Party (NPP) after a photo of Nana Akufo-Addo drinking the fruit juice went viral on social media.
Mr Alhassan Yakubu, the Ashanti Regional Director of the NCCE, is of the view that people who take Kalyppo to the polling station could be deemed NPP supporters and subjected to violent physical attacks.
"The CI 94 which is regulating the presidential and parliamentary election says that nobody on Election Day should do anything that will identify him or her with any political party such as wearing party paraphernalia, T-shirt, cup or doing anything that will portray your political colour,†Mr Yakuba told pulse.com.gh.
He added: "I am coming from that background that for this year 2016, You and I know that Kalyppo, it is Nana Addo who has been using Kalyppo to propagate his party.
"And the law says that do not do anything that will identify you on the polling day. So why carry Kalyppo that will identify you?"
While the NCCE appears to have good intentions, it is hard to see how the provision under CI 94 applies to Kalyppo.
It is wrong to suggest that any item that can be identified with a political party should be barred under CI 94.
If we were to follow such logic, it would be unacceptable for people to take umbrellas to polling stations to protect themselves from rain or heat from the sun.
This is because the umbrella is the symbol of the NDC.
Naturally, many people would want to take fruit drinks like Kalyppo to polling stations on election day because they will queue for hours in the sun and will want to be able to refresh themselves from time to time.
Denying them such an opportunity will not only be unfair, but it can also open up the NCCE to law suits from the makers of Kalyppo, who may interpret the NCCE’s advice as an attack on their business.
Instead of telling people not to take Kalyppo to polling stations, the NCCE should focus on advising people against violent acts at polling stations.
The NCCE must use its resources to educate people on the need to respect the political choices of others on election day.
That way, everyone will be safe at the polling stations, irrespective of the parties they support.