Mahama says NDC will ensure peaceful election

Dormaa-Ahenkro (B/A), July 21, GNA - The presidential running mate of the National Democratic Congress(NDC), Mr. John Dramani Mahama, has said the NDC is ready to help ensure that the 2008 general election would be held in an atmosphere of peace and tranquillity. He said Ghana could hold free, fair and memorable election whose results would be acceptable both locally and internationally if all stakeholders would be honest and deal with issues rather than insults and vilification.

Mr. Mahama said this when he called on Dormaa Traditional Council at the Abanpredase Palace at Dormaa-Ahenkro as part of his 10-day campaign tour of Brong-Ahafo Region.

He appealed to traditional authorities to extend their advisory role to political parties and aspiring candidates to use civil language during their campaigns.

This, Mr. Mahama said, could avert pre-election violence that normally characterized the build-up to elections.

Barima Ansu Adjei, Krontihene of the Council who stood in for Dormaahene Osagyefo Oseadeyo Agyemang Badu II, described the candidate's courtesy call as appropriate and timely.

He said traditional authorities remained a viable source of advice and direction and that it was right for aspiring leaders of the nation to draw on the rich leadership experience of traditionalists. Barima Ansu Adjei said political leaders and party activists owed Ghana the responsibility to protect the relative peace by avoiding acts that had the potential to bring chaos and anarchy. He appealed to political parties to co-exist peacefully and tolerate divergent views so that the electorate could make informed choices rather than being subjected to intimidation and coercion. Barima Ansu expressed optimism that the NDC, if voted into power again, would use the rich experience gained during its previous tenure in office to lift the country from its current level to another level. Mr. Johnson Asiedu Nketia, General Secretary of the NDC, said both the election of a president and the selection of a successor to the traditional stool required utmost care so that the wrong person was not given the mandate to set back the clock of progress. He appealed to the party's youth in Dormaa-West constituency "to sharpen their campaign tools" but to ensure that the exercise was devoid of acrimony and violence. Mr. Mahama and his team later addressed rallies at Dormaa-Ahenkro and Nkrankwanta.