By Lawrencia Akoto Frempong
Ashaiman, Nov. 28, GNA – The Greater Accra Regional Peace Council (GARPC), in collaboration with the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), has held a consultative dialogue in the Ashaiman constituency towards a peaceful election.
The dialogue also culminated into the signing of a constituency-level peace pact by political party representatives as a means of promoting peace in the area.
The dialogue was sponsored by the British High Commission, UK International Development, and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
Rt. Reverend Samuel Osabutey, the Chairman of the GARPC, in an address delivered on his behalf by Mr Henry Attoh Okai, an Executive Member of the GARPC, said the dialogue was dedicated towards the promotion of peace, adding that the peace pact was not only timely but vital in the quest for a peaceful election on December 7.
Mr Okai stated that the purpose of the dialogue was to create a platform for open and constructive consultations that would feed into the content of the peace pact to be signed by the presidential and some parliamentary candidates in the country.
He reiterated that the pact when signed, would guide the conduct of candidates before, during, and after the elections and encourage political tolerance and consensus-building among political parties, as well as ensure decency in the media space.
“Peace pacts are not just formal agreements that end hostilities; they represent the collective hope and efforts of individuals, communities, and political parties to build lasting peace based on mutual respect, trust, and understanding,” he said.
He highlighted that political reforms, ceasefire agreements, security arrangements, justice and reconciliation, development and construction, and monitoring and enforcement were some key elements of the pact.
He added that the peace pact remained the most powerful tool the council possesses for resolving disputes, fostering communal harmony, or healing post-conflict societies.
Mr Okai said the NPC was confident that the signed pact would collectively yield meaningful outcomes, address grievances, minimise tensions, and prevent any catastrophe associated with electoral violence.
Mr Mawuli Agbenu, the Greater Accra Regional Director of the NCCE, mentioned that during the electioneering, political party leaders and supporters become anxious trying to win the elections, and some of their actions might cause violence in the community.
He stated that the NCCE, the Peace Council, and the security agencies were working to ensure that peace prevailed during the elections period by educating the electorates through the dialogues to focus on the issues presented by the political parties rather than the issues that would bring about conflicts.
He added that the peace pact signed was to appeal to the conscience of the candidates to put their moralities on the line to ensure that their party supporters desist from any violent activities and resort to peaceful resolutions when misunderstandings arose.
He said the political parties and candidates were expected to educate their supporters to recognise that elections were a peaceful process of collective decision-making that must not degenerate into violence, adding, there are alternative mechanisms that could be employed to resolve misunderstandings.
The peace pact was signed by three out of four parliamentary candidates contesting the seat of the Ashaiman constituency: Mr Alfred Tetteh Numo, a representative for the parliamentary candidate for the New Patriotic Party, Mr Emmanuel Mantey of the Progressive Peoples Party, and Mr Kofi-Yesu Heymann of the Liberal Party of Ghana.
The incumbent Member of Parliamentary and National Democratic Congress’s parliamentary candidate, Mr Ernest Norgbey, was unable to participate in the signing of the pact.
The participating candidates promised to maintain peace and accept the results of the elections without any violence.
GNA