Election 2020: I stand for peace – Mahama assures ahead of polls

Former President and presidential candidate of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) John Dramani Mahama has pledged to promote a peaceful election on December 7, 2020.

Making that pledge at an event to get the leaders of the two main political parties - the NDC and the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) - to commit to peace, Mr. Mahama said the polls, although crucial, must not degenerate into violence.

“My name is John Dramani Mahama and I stand for peace. Let there be peace in Ghana before, during, and after the elections,” he urged.

"As we end our campaigns tomorrow [December 5, 2020] and prepare to vote on Monday, I pledge to ensure peace and preserve the stability of our dear nation Ghana. Elections are about counting heads and not cutting heads and so we will work together towards a peaceful election.”

He also urged the security personnel to behave professionally in the discharge of their task of policing the polls.

“Let us strive to prevent the violence of the past, particularly as witnessed in early 2019 during the Ayawaso West Wuogon by-election which today has gone unsanctioned.

“Our country stands at a critical juncture of its history. Never has the lives of some many dependent on the power of a thumb. Now more than ever, we need the institutions of our democracy to work impartially to deliver an outcome that is fair, transparent, and independent.

“The Electoral Commission, the Judiciary, the Security Services and the media hold the future of our nation in their hands,” he stated.

The presidential and parliamentary elections on Monday will be between incumbent President Nana Akufo-Addo and John Dramani Mahama of the main NDC, although eleven political parties and one independent candidate are billed to contest.