We cannot sacrifice Ghana's peace on political rhetorics - Prince Mba

Prince Bagnaba Mba, President of the Forum for National Equity has called on all political actors to give the Electoral Commission the chance to carry out its mandate to deepen Ghana's democracy.

"I have observed that the issue of compilation of the new voter's register has generated unnecessary threats of violence and mayhem from political interest groups and wish to remind Ghanaians that the corporate peaceful Ghana cannot be sacrificed on political rhetoric."

Speaking to the Ghana News Agency in an exclusive interview in Accra on Sunday, Mr Mba said the Electoral Commission was the constitutional body mandated to conduct peaceful elections and it was only fair to give them the free hand to carry out that mandate.

He said the voter's register was the main key to the door of democracy and it was not only illegal, but also criminal to use a faulty key to open the main gate. "We have come a long way as pacesetters in Africa, when it comes to democratic governance and this enviable height we have achieved comes with a price of sacrificial responsibility."

Mr Mba called on political parties to rather be concerned with the mobilization of their supporters and members to register massively to ensure transparent conduct of elections, and not to spend their energies on issues that could hamper the country's democracy.

"Foundation building is the basic determinant of the strength of any institution. It's interesting how the political parties are behaving, like fighting an unnecessary war over which side of the egg should be broken. Lack of sincerity and party first, nation last politics is nothing but populism."

Mr Mba said there were always excuses to justify actions, but for the common good of all, "we call for maximum cooperation with the Electoral Commission in the spirit of goodwill and commitment to the promotion of democracy."

He said the coronavirus had hampered everything globally and there was therefore little time for planning and should not be spent on unnecessary arguments.