Peace Council calls for calm ahead of Supreme Court ruling

Ahead of the Supreme Court’s ruling on the 2020 election petition, the National Peace Council (NPC) has called on former President John Dramani Mahama and President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo as well as the Electoral Commission, to strictly adhere to the apex court’s ruling, “regardless of who wins or loses in the yet to be delivered judgment.”

It also appealed to the two to refrain from any activity that might directly or indirectly encourage their followers or officials to disturb the peace of the country after the delivery of the judgment of the Supreme Court.

“In this regard, we encourage all supporters of the two political parties not to engage in any activity that is a potential threat to the peace of Ghana,” the NPC stated.

A statement issued in Accra and signed by the NPC Chairman, Rev. Dr Ernest Adu-Gyamfi, also called on Ghanaians to resort to time-tested non-violent mechanisms to address any outstanding election-related complaints peacefully.

That, it said, could be done either through the judicial process or by means of available alternative dispute resolution mechanisms.

“The National Peace Council and our Regional Peace Councils are ready to facilitate the resolution of such electoral disputes,” the NPC affirmed.

It also called on people operating social media platforms and political commentators to be circumspect in their reports and discussions after the Supreme Court has delivered its judgment, in order to protect the integrity and sovereignty of the state.

Background

The statement recalled that on December 4, 2020, the presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), the Second Respondent in the election petition and the presidential candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), the petitioner in the case, publicly subscribed to the Accra Peace Declaration, in which they, inter alia: Committed themselves and their supporters to peaceful elections in the December 2020 elections; Committed themselves to the judicial resolution of all election disputes and undertook to restrain their supporters from resorting to violence in the aftermath of the elections.

Prior to this, both the NPP and the NDC in 2020 publicly subscribed to a Code of Conduct and a roadmap on the eradication of political vigilantism and election-related violence on the grounds that they are inimical to Ghana’s democratic system.

It said in 2019, Parliament unanimously passed the Vigilantism and Politically Related Offences Act 2019 (Act 999) to prohibit vigilantism in all forms.