Election Results: Let’s choose peace, not violence – Reverend Boafo

The Most Reverend Dr. Paul Kwabena Boafo, Presiding Bishop of the Methodist Church, Ghana, has appealed to Ghanaians, especially, members of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) to let peace prevail even as they expressed their disagreement with the results of the presidential election.

“We need to avoid violence and war because the moment it starts, everybody will be affected.” Rev. Boafo said “it takes one person to bring war, so we should be careful with what we say or do after the election.

“The bullet does not discriminate… the women, the man, the child, the adult, the handicap or the physically challenged will all be in trouble when war strikes.

“And this is what we need to avoid as a nation. That is why we are always talking about peace, peace, peace,” Rev Boafo, said in an interview with the Ghana News Agency on Tuesday in Accra.

He said those who won and those who did not win in the elections should first consider the peace of the nation before they did anything that could mar the country’s peace.

“We are still asking for peace and say that the legal way of seeking redress must be pursued,” Rev Boafo stated.

“As we demand justice, we should bear in mind that people are ready to listen when you are also ready to listen and so we shouldn’t just take the law into our own hands.”

He said it was important that legal redress was sought to address concerns relating to the election results as was done in 2012 and not ‘the raising of arms.’ Rev. Boafo, therefore, called on the two main political parties to encourage their followers to work towards national cohesion and peaceful coexistence.

He said it was not true that the National Peace Council was always on the side of government and asked that the ”eminent persons made up of the clergy, the traditional rulers, civil society and others who mean well for the country” be allowed to help address the concerns of all.

Rev. Boafo urged Ghanaians to “use the season of Advent when Christians looked forward to the birth of Jesus Christ, who comes as the prince of peace to embrace peace.”

“So as the Prince of Peace, let us welcome Him into our confused, anxious and depressed world so that His banner, which is peace, will be upon us. And that is what He comes with, and when He was leaving, that is what He left us,” he said.