Eschew divisive tendencies to promote democracy — NCCE

The Nkwanta-South District Director of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), Mr Daniel Agbesi Latsu, has appealed to Ghanaians to put the interest of the nation first by eschewing  divisive tendencies which are likely to mar the beauty of the country’s democracy.

He said democracy was the best option if the nation was to develop well and that it was the duty of every citizen, including children, to help protect it.

Addressing students and pupils of 13 junior high and primary schools to mark the Citizenship Week celebration  in the Nkwanta-South District at the Ashiabre Primary School, Mr Latsu advised the pupils to cultivate the virtue of tolerance to promote peace among communities.

He also called on them to contribute to the well-being of the communities in which they lived, and also to protect and safeguard the environment so that future generations could come and use it.

The Presiding Member of the Nkwanta-South District Assembly, Mr Geoffrey Dedeva Akude, called on the pupils to respect the rights, freedoms and legitimate interests of others, and generally to refrain from engaging in acts that were detrimental to the welfare of other persons.

Mr  Akude, who delivered the civic message under the topic: “Indiscipline and how it weakens the Pillars of Our Democracy,” appealed to the pupils to respect and obey school rules.

He said for democracy to work well, the 1992 Constitution of Ghana had allowed certain institutions which the NCCE referred to as the “Pillars of our Democracy” to operate in the country.

Mr Akude mentioned the institutions as the executive, legislature, judiciary, security services, NCCE, Electoral Commission, Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), National Media Commission (NMC), media, and the chieftaincy institutions.

He said there were, however, certain acts that destroyed democracy and its pillars and mentioned one of them as indiscipline, adding that any act of indiscipline carried out by citizens affected one or more of these constitutional institutions and destroyed the tenets of democracy.

Mr Akude, who is also the assembly member for the Nkwanta- West electoral area, advised the pupils to refrain from acts of hooliganism and wanton destruction of public property.

The Assistant Head Teacher of the Ashiabre Primary School, Mr Edmund Obido, advised the pupils to take their studies seriously and comport themselves to enable them to grow to become useful to society.