By Gladys Abakah
Sekondi (W/R), Sept. 6, GNA – The Western Regional Peace Council has organised a day’s stakeholder engagement to deliberate on measures to ensure a peaceful conduct of the December 7 general elections.
The engagement, held in Sekondi, was organised in collaboration with the Western Regional Co-ordinating Council and Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly, and attended by representatives from the two main political parties, the media, security services, the Electoral Commission and National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) and traditional and religious leaders, among others.
It sought to provide a platform for participants to discuss guidelines and best practices to ensure peace before, during and after the December 7 polls.
Participants were taken through some documents relevant to general elections, including the National Peace Council’s guidelines on hate speeches and other forms of indecent expressions, the political parties’ code of conduct, and Vigilantism and Related Offences Act 2019 (Act, 999).
Bishop Emmanuel Botwey, Western Regional Peace Council Chairman, speaking during the event, stressed the need for political parties and other stakeholders to adhere to the guidelines of the council to build peace and stability during the electioneering period.
He indicated that due to certain past experiences in previous elections, there was the need for all to intensify education on peace to ensure a smooth process.
Bishop Botwey expressed the hope that the Council’s engagements in other regions would yield positive results for peace to prevail in the country.
Madam Rebecca Efiba Dadzie, a member of the Western Region Peace Council, said all political parties had signed a peace campaign commitment document to ensure that all their members conducted themselves to promote calmness in the nation during the elections.
She urged political parties to desist from creating fear in people, saying, “political parties should carry themselves in a manner that will give electorate the confidence to approach the ballot box to cast their votes without fear.”
Madam Maribel Okine, the Western Regional Director of the Department of Children and Gender, urged politicians and their followers to avoid using hate speeches and other denigrating comments against their opponents on campaign platforms.
Nana Ekua Kodu II, Queen Mother of Essikado Traditional Area, encouraged stakeholders to adhere to the code of conduct regarding the elections to bring peace and unity before, during and after the December polls.
Mr. Yussif Yampson, a representative of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Mission on the Council, advised individuals against indulging vigilantism or actions that could spark any form of confusion.
“I am appealing to all of us to see the country as all that we have got and do the needful to sustain the peace and unity in this election year,” he stated.
Members present pledged their commitment to ensuring a free, fair and peaceful elections, while promising to spread the peace campaign to protect the country from any form of conflicts.
GNA