Managing Election- Relation Violence for Democratic Stability in Ghana realistically deliver. During the 2008 elections, the stakes were high as the incumbent President Kufuor had just finished his constitutionally mandated two terms and could not stand for re­election. The stage then was set for a new political leader to step in and both the NDC and NPP were determined to win by all means. This resulted in them coming up with slogans such as the 'mother of all elections';'win or die';'there can be no loser';'we will win at all cost'(Aning and Lartey, 2009). These phrases created uncertainty, fear, heightened tensions in the society and created distrust among the politicians. Both sides then resorted to negative campaigns not based on any issues. The menace of violence and intimidation had surfaced during the first round of voting, as members of'keep-fit clubs' acted in essence as vigilantes for their preferred parties and candidates and sparked violent pre-election clashes in Bawku and Accra (Gyimah-Boadi, 2009). During the run-up to the second round, such threats escalated. Former President Rawlings spearheaded the NDC's'popular resistance' movement. His campaign messages actually exhorted supporters to take up arms, and flanked by retired military commandos, he led emotionally charged rallies that climaxed with the militaristic hymn'Onward Christian Soldiers'(Gyimah-Boadi, 2009). Even though the run­off election was generally peaceful, there were more instances of intimidation and violence than in the first round, especially in the Volta and Ashanti regions. Both parties had their polling agents harassed, with local vigilantes mounting roadblocks to prevent 'outsiders' from observing the polls in parts of the Volta Region. This summary of the 2008 elections underscores the effects of the patronage systems embedded in the country's politics. The idea of patronage has become so ingrained in party members and 195