The General Secretary of the Stakeholders of Peace International, Captain (rtd) Nkrabeah Effah-Dartey has appealed to both presidential and parliamentary candidates to allow peace to prevail before, during and after the elections.
He also advised them to accept the election results as free, fair and transparent, saying there cannot be meaningful development without peace in the country.
He said this when the organisation visited Takoradi in the Western Region to preach peace towards the impending election.
Capt Effah-Dartey said Ghana was a democratic nation and that no country could survive without laws to be obeyed by the citizens otherwise there would be total chaos.
He said there would be total breakdown of law if there was no existing government with laid down rules and regulations to be followed, adding “if Ghana says everybody must drive with a driving licence and must move on the right and you decide to move on the left, you can imagine the confusion”.
Capt. Effah-Dartey appealed to people to be calm when they lose elections, adding “the fact that your party is not in power is not the end of the world, so don’t pick up arms and cause trouble.”
The Deputy Western Regional Minister, Mrs Gifty Kusi recounted how she lost the primaries in 2015, advising that “if you did not think deeply, you would be tempted to plan evil.”
“If you have pledged to uphold the constitution of Ghana, you would accept the situation as you found yourself,” she added.
She said positions were chosen by God and given to man to occupy “so we must always be ready to be content with the situation we find ourselves”.
Mrs Kusi cautioned rabble-rousers to rescind their decision because the security was fully alert to deal with them.
The Paramount Chief of Essikado, Nana Kobina Nketsiah V said nothing was more important than speaking about peace, noting that Ghana had managed to maintain peace for some time now and could not afford to lose that peace.
He said anytime there was election, it looked like there was going to be an earthquake, advising politicians to remain calm and preach peace.
The Western Regional chairman of the Convention People’s Party (CPP), Mr Kwabena Tumi said CPP was a very peaceful party and would do anything to maintain the existing peace.
He regretted that parties in power had often failed to punish their members for crimes committed, claiming that unprofessional acts of the security, corruption and the misuse of political power led to troubles in the country.
ROM PETER GBAMBILA, TANOKROM
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