CPP declines to pledge towards peaceful elections

The Convention People’s Party has declined to commit itself to ensuring peaceful elections polls in November this year, citing issues with the country’s voters’ register as the basis.

According to the Party’s National Youth Organiser, Ernesto Yeboah, the current voters’ register is “fraudulent” and cannot be used to conduct the 2016 Presidential and Parliamentary elections.

Thus, the party has refused to be part of a campaign put together by a non-governmental organisation, Youth Icons, to get the various political parties in the country to champion peace among their youth towards an incident-free elections.

At the launch of the campaign in Accra Thursday, Mr Yeboah who was called to the podium to make the pledge on behalf of the CPP said: “I am just here, supposed to come and pledge beautifully towards a peaceful election 2016 but I am sorry that I am not able to do that, I decline”.

He then refused to rise and recite the peace pledge put together by the Youth Icons; a move that shocked the organisers and other stakeholders who had already committed themselves.

However, both the Peoples National Convention and the National Democratic Congress which were present at the event, pledged their commitment to support the organisation in engaging youth across the country in a peace talk before, during and after the polls.

Chairman of the National Peace Council, Most Reverend Professor Emmanuel Asante, described the comments by the national youth organiser of the CPP as unfortunate.

“I consider that to be very unfortunate… I think our pledging peace is not saying let us overlook the weaknesses,” he told TV3 Online.

“Peace itself does not come in a vacuum, we need to work towards that and part of it would mean that we need to correct the things that negate peace and therefore our pledge to peace also means that we are also committed to doing the very things that will take away those things that negate peace but unfortunately our friends saw it in a different way,” he added.

Notwithstanding, he said he believes majority of the people in the CPP are peaceful, hence would commit themselves to the peace of this country.

He urged all, especially the youth, to shun all violent behaviours and embrace peace as the elections approach.