Political parties urged to sign peace pact to consolidate prevailing peace
The Executive Director of the Institute of Democratic Governance (IDEG), Dr Emmanuel Akwetey, has called on all political parties contesting the November 7 elections to sign a pact ahead of the election to consolidate the prevailing peace in the country.
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The peace pact, he said, would serve as an inspiration to all followers of the political parties to behave well during the elections.
“It is important to commit to a pact that no matter what happens, we will operate within the rule of law and ensure peace. Political parties must accept the rules of the game to consolidate our democracy,” Dr Akwetey said.
Signing the peace pact, he said, was “crucial to deal with the threat of violence. Political parties have to renounce violence and rather engage each other with mutual respect and refrain from activities that have the tendency to provoke violence,” he added.
Engagement
He was speaking at the opening of a three-day workshop organised by the Small Arms Commission for the Ghana Police Service and political parties to discuss peace and security efforts during the lead up to the November 7 presidential and parliamentary elections at Ada yesterday.
Participants in the workshop include representatives of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), the New Patriotic Party (NPP), the Convention People's Party (CPP), the People's National Convention (PNC), the All Peoples Congress (APC).
Others were the Progressive People’s Party (PPP), the Independent People's Party (IPP), the Great Consolidated People's Party (GCPP) and the Ghana Freedom Party (GFP).
Dr Akwetey said political parties and the police had a role to play in ensuring that Ghana's democracy was not destabilised.
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“Resorting to violence is not the answer, if you shoot, your opponent will also shoot, and it will take years to put an end to the shooting just like we have witnessed in some other countries,”he said.
Turbulence
He said studies carried out by civil society organisations had shown that Ghanaians were scared that the tension that was building up in the run-up to the November 7 general election could escalate into violence.
Dr Akwetey said there were concerns about the proliferation of weapons into the country, and with the West Africa sub-region becoming a hub for money laundering, funding of violent activities would not be too difficult.
Weapons
In a speech read on his behalf, the Chairman of the Small Arms Commission, Brigadier General Francis Agyenfra (retd), explained that the meeting had become necessary as elections in Africa had become a major trigger of violence and conflict which had destroyed some countries.
Violent conflicts in such countries, he said, were triggered by the widespread availability of illegal weapons, the large population of unemployed youth, trained mercenaries, pervasive poverty and religious extremism.
Already, he said 47 per cent of all weapons in the hands of civilians in Ghana were held illegally without any record on them.
“We as a commission are more worried about the recent spate of arrest of smuggled weapons and ammunition into Ghana. Over 200 Ghanaians have been arrested in the United States of America in the last few years for attempting to smuggle weapons into Ghana.’’
Bodyguards
The Director General of Operations of the Ghana Police Service, Commissioner of Police (COP) Mr Christian Tetteh Yohuno, said plans were far advanced to assign police personnel to presidential and vice presidential candidates to protect them during the campaign period.
Writer's email :emelia. ennin@graphic.com.gh