Do not undermine the integrity of the December 7 polls - Brig. Agyemfra

Brigadier General Francis Agyemfra (rtd), Visiting Senior Fellow of the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), has said it is important that political parties played by the rules of fairness and transparency.

That, he said, was necessary to protect the integrity and credibility of the December 7 presidential and parliamentary elections.

Brig Gen Agyemfra said this when speaking at a forum on the “Code of conduct for the political parties” in Kumasi.

The programme was organized by the IEA with support from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and in attendance were representatives of the security services, traditional rulers, Electoral Commission (EC), National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) and civil society organizations.

It is part of the drive towards helping to make the general polls peaceful and violent-free.

Brig Gen Agyemfra said although Ghana “is noted to be a very peaceful nation”, if people refused to do the right things and disrespected the electoral rules, there could be trouble that was why all must work together to remove needless suspicion and tension.

Mrs. Augustina Akumanyi, Deputy Chairperson for the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) in-charge of Special Operations, appealed to the political parties to demand decency and responsible conduct from their followers.

She urged the inter-party dialogue committees to work hard to promote tolerance among the parties and their supporters.

The Reverend Father Dr Patrick Osei-Poku, Chairman, Ashanti Regional Enforcement Body for the IEA, appealed to the media to be circumspect and avoid sexing up indecorous and potentially explosive statements by politicians.

He said ensuring that there was peace before, during and after the election “should be everybody’s business” and this must not be left to only the EC and the political parties alone.