Concession speech: Peace Council commends Bawumia, Mahama

The National Peace Council (NPC) has commended Vice-President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia for respecting his commitment to the Fourth Presidential Elections Peace Pact. 

“This action has enhanced Ghana’s democratic processes and made our country proud,” it said.

A statement issued by the NPC acknowledged the concession speech by Vice-President Bawumia.

It also congratulated the National Democratic Congress presidential candidate, John Mahama, on his social media acceptance of the concession by the Vice-President.

“As we await the official declaration of results by the Electoral Commission, the NPC encourages all parties and their supporters to remain calm to keep the peace of the country,” it said. 

Condemns

In a related development, the NPC, and other partners, condemned in no uncertain terms the vandalisation and setting ablaze of the offices of the EC and collation centre in Damongo due to the contentions over parliamentary results.

“Our understanding from our NPC Savannah Regional Office is that but for the presence of security personnel, the crowds of party supporters would have vandalised the collation centre earlier,” it said.

It said due to the heightened tension, the Savannah Regional Peace Council (RPC) facilitated a dialogue, which got stakeholders to agree that the military and party supporters would withdraw from the collation centre for tallying to continue. 

Security withdrawal

The statement said soon after the withdrawal of security personnel and the Savannah RPC colleagues, “the EC office and collation centre were attacked and set on fire”.

It said it was essential that political supporters withdraw from the collation centres and allow their accredited agents to observe the collation process.

It urged party leaders to make a public call on their supporters to withdraw from collation centres.

“The NPC calls on all sides to allow Electoral Commission personnel to carry out their duties with professionalism and integrity in order to deliver a free, fair and transparent election,” it stated.