By Benjamin A. Commey
Accra, Feb. 27, GNA — President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has assured Ghanaians of his commitment to ensure a transparent, free and fair elections in December.
He said the Government was therefore putting in place all necessary measures, including providing the needed support for the Electoral Commission to undertake its mandate.
Delivering his penultimate State of the Nation Address to Parliament in Accra, on Tuesday, February 27, 2024, President Akufo-Addo said free and credible elections were the bedrock of every strong democracy as they imposed confidence in the Government that emerged at the end of the process.
He said protecting the peace and democracy of the country therefore remained the government’s priority.
“I want to reassure the people of Ghana that I will do everything in my power to help ensure the conduct of transparent, free and fair elections on 7th December,” he said.
The President also charged the Electoral Commission to work with the political parties to iron out any misunderstanding that might emerge.
He explained that the Commission had a lot of responsibility to protect the democracy of the country by ensuring that the 2024 polls were transparent and credible.
The President also said political parties had major roles to play in protect the country’s democracy, stressing that they must recognise that their credibility was also on the line, with some people wanting to undermine the multi-party democratic system of government.
“It is up to the parties to demonstrate that competitive elections are an honourable, character enhancing experience, and, at the end of the process, the loser will congratulate the winner, and the world does not come to an end because an election has been lost,” he indicated.
He urged them to ensure peace, indicating that there was nothing “inherently dirty or corrupt” about politics and elections that should generate violence.
“We, who are in politics and we who are members of political parties, owe it to ourselves, the institutions we claim to belong to, and, above all, we owe it to Ghana and the people of Ghana to make politics and elections the serious and joyful phenomenon they should be,” the President added.
While expressing confidence in the security services, he tasked them to ensure that persons who might want to cause havoc or any kind of mischief to disrupt the electoral process were stopped.
“I have confidence in the security services to ensure that those who might want to cause havoc or any kind of mischief to disrupt the electoral process will have no room to operate,” he said.
President Akufo-Addo urged Ghanaians to continuously seek improvement in the performances of institutions that held the State together, cautioning them against undermining the integrity of the arms of government for parochial reasons.
“There is definitely much room for improvement in the workings of the Executive arm of Government, the Judiciary and our Parliament,” the President stressed.
GNA