By Edward Williams
Nkonya (O/R), Sept. 3, GNA – The Inter-Party Dialogue Committee (IPDC) of the Biakoye District in the Oti region says it is committed to ensure that the 2024 general elections ended peacefully in the district.
The Committee includes representatives from political parties, Electoral Commission (EC), Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), Ghana Police Service, traditional authority, Persons with Disability, religious and Civil Society Organisations, women and youth groups.
Reverend Leonard Aglomasa, Biakoye District Director of the National Commission of Civic Education (NCCE) during a meeting at Nkonya-Ntsumuru on the strategies for ensuring a peaceful and credible electoral process in the build-up to the 2024 elections, charged the Committee members to work assiduously to sustain the peace in the Constituency.
He said the IPDC served as a platform for dialogue and collaboration among political parties, stakeholders and citizens to address electoral concerns, promote tolerance and mitigate potential conflicts.
Rev Aglomasa said the focus of Committee’s educational campaigns would be on key areas such as money in politics, misinformation and disinformation, religious and political tolerance and electoral violence.
He tasked the Media, Religious and Community sensitization Sub-Committees to monitor and resolve issues related to defacing of posters, intemperate, provocative and abusive campaign messages, fake news, disregard for rules relating to political rallies and processions and finally, exploiting religious and ethnic differences to create intolerance that might affect peaceful elections.
Nanai John Addipah, Chairman of the IPDC, commended the Committee’s commitment to creating a conducive environment for peaceful elections adding that “we understand the imperative of peaceful and credible elections for the stability and progress of our nation.”
He urged all stakeholders to collaborate and listen to wise counsel in the performance of their duties while calling on the National Media Commission to regulate the media space and not offer its platform for misinformation and disinformation.
Mr Larry Doe Klatsi, Biakoye District Director of CHRAJ, said money in politics should be viewed from broad perspectives of the causes, the effects and how to combat it adding that the high-rate unemployment made voters vulnerable to exchange their votes for money and the effect was corruption in politics.
He noted that tackling unemployment would reduce money in politics while advocating for a consensus on the source of funding for political parties through a national dialogue to ensure that political parties were accountable to citizens.
Mr Isaac Light Ameko, a representative from the Electoral Commission said citizens should vote for a particular candidate or party based on good policies and programmes rather than allowing money to influence their vote.
He also urged citizens to verify information from institutions before acting.
Mr Chrisian Aganu, a representative of the New Patriotic Party, said political parties must manage the information that reached them with the greatest level of circumspection and act fairly in such matters.
Mr Siaw D.Y Darko, representative of the National Democratic Congress, added that it was crucial for all stakeholders to work together to ensure that the 2024 elections were conducted fairly and transparently.
Mr Destiny Yevugah, a representative of Liberal Party of Ghana and Mr Bless Dey Anyana, a representative of the Ghana Union Movement both expressed confidence that through the efforts of the IPDC, a peaceful and harmonious electoral process that reflected the will of the people would be achieved.
Inspector Robert K. Oppong from the Formed Police Unit (FPU) of the Ghana Police Service, assured citizens that the Police in the district was committed to ensuring a peaceful election.
“We love the peaceful political atmosphere we are enjoying in the district and the country even though there is tension associated with every election, we assure you that we will not take positions but do our best to make sure that the right thing is done.”
Inspector Oppong called for the support of stakeholders and citizens to safeguard the sanctity of the 2024 elections since their support would help to have a consultative approach to tackling issues.
GNA