Akwatia Parliamentary contestants pledge peace

Parliamentary candidates of political parties in the Akwatia constituency have given the assurance that the upcoming elections would be peaceful, devoid of any form of violence.

They pledged to inculcate in their supporters the need for incident– free polls.

The last parliamentary election saw Akwatia and some parts of the constituency plunged into violence and other nasty incidents for the first time in the history of the constituency.

Some ballot boxes were snatched while others and voting materials were destroyed.

That development necessitated a re-run of the polls in six polling stations in the constituency.

On the eve of the re-run, violence broke out with a number of persons injured seriously.

A curfew was imposed in the area and large number of police and soldiers were sent there to restore peace and order.

To avoid a repetition of the unfortunate incident, the Akwatia District Police Commander, Deputy Superintendent of Police Samuel Kofi Odame, held a meeting with the parliamentary aspirants, Akwatiahene, the Chief Imam, heads of the Zongo community, the chairman and secretary of the Local Council of Churches and the media for discussions towards incident-free poll in December.

Both Dr. Kofi Asare, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Akwatia and Mr Mohammed Ahmed Baba Jamal, Deputy Minister of Tourism and National Democratic Congress (NDC) parliamentary candidate pledged that what happened during the last elections would not be repeated.

They warned their supporters that whoever engaged in any act that would disturb the peace would not have their support.

Mr. Odame said trouble makers would be dealt with according to the law and that a large security force would be around to ensure there was law and order before, during and after the polls.

He said removal or defacing of political opponents posters is a criminal act and those found indulging in that would face the full rigors of the law. The Akwatiahene, Osabarima Kofi Boateng III, said Akwatia had already earned a bad name from what happed during the last polls and appealed to the electorate to give peace a chance.

The leaders from the Zongo and Islamic community said they would drum home to their people the need for peace and the harm disorder could cause.

Mr. Kwarkoh Dickson of the People’s National Convention (PNC) and Mr. Samuel Agyei of the Convention People’s Party (CPP) said their supporters were not involved in the political upheavals of the last elections and they would continue to be ambassadors of peace.