Two MP aspirants commit to peaceful elections

The two front runners for the Old Tafo seat in Kumasi have pledged to ensure that the upcoming general elections are peaceful.

The two candidates, Mr Vincent Ekow Assafuah of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and Mr Sahmudeen Mohammed Kamil of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), also pledged to ensure that their supporters stayed away from any form of conflict before, during and after the December 7 general election.

Again, the two candidates pledged to team up with the various stakeholders such as the Electoral Commission, traditional authorities, faith-based organisations and others to educate all and sundry and let the people understand why they should stay together in peace as one people irrespective of their political, religious, ethnic and other affiliations.

The candidates made the pledge at a town hall meeting organised by the leadership of the Saint Anthony Catholic Church, Old Tafo in the Tafo Municipality of the Ashanti Region.

In attendance were a section of the church’s congregation, representatives of the various faith-based organisations, candidates and supporters of the ruling NPP and NDC, traditional leaders and other stakeholders from the area.

Vision

Each of the candidates took turns to educate the gathering about their vision, as well as what their party’s had in the bag for the people when elected into office.

Mr Kamil challenged all stakeholders to ensure that peace prevailed before, during and after the elections.

“I must also state that politics is a contest of ideas and not a contest of weapons, so why resort to arms before, during and after the elections?” Mr Kamil asked.

For his part, Mr Assafuah was very upbeat that no single conflict would be recorded in the Old Tafo area due to the state of affairs now following intensive education by the various contestants in the parliamentary elections.

He also added his voice to the earlier call for all to abide by the laid-down regulations for the conduct of the general election on December 7, 2020 as they could not disappoint the people of Ghana by sparking a conflict.

Kumasi Archbishop

The Metropolitan Archbishop of Kumasi, Most Reverend Gabriel Justice Yaw Anokye, in address read on his behalf, charged players in the democratic process to make it a point to be fair in all their dealings to promote peace.

He urged parliamentary candidates to desist from making promises they could not fulfil since the people would in the long run use it against them.

Background

The Tafo area in Kumasi has over the years has been identified as one of the flashpoints due to the persistent occurrence of conflicts before, during and after elections in the country.