Dr Seth Kwame Sallah, a real estate developer and the Chief Executive officer (CEO) of Setho Classic Group of Companies has passionately appealed to Ghanaians to collectively work at preserving the nation's peace and stability, as the November 7 general elections approaches.
He particularly urged the leadership of the various political parties, especially their flag bearers, to avoid making statements, as well as engaging in activities, that could incite their followers into violence.
Dr Sallah who spoke to this paper exclusively noted that the culture of political violence in other countries in Africa has not only been imbibed and sustained as part of those countries' political behaviour, but has become one of the potent causes of the low participation of Africans in politics and other social activities. This, he said, must not be the portion of Ghana, a country that prides itself as the gateway to Africa.
"Chaotic electoral violence in many African countries has put a bad taste in poor electorate mouths in those countries and we must all work to prevent such from happening in Ghana. Such violence has resulted in the loss of precious lives and the destruction of valuable properties. Political violence negates peaceful co-existence, law and order. It also militates against the consolidation of democracy and social co-existence, which would have impact on the social, economic well being of the nation and create imbalance in social relations", he noted.
The estate developer noted that these are concerns for security operatives and it is important that adequate security is maintained before, during and after the general elections to ensure that there is peace and unity.
The entrepreneur who is based in Atadeka, a suburb of the Kpone Katamanso District also appealed to the youth of the country to refuse to be used by rogue politicians to foment trouble during the elections for their parochial interest.
Dr Sallah bemoaned the spate at which the youth usually become victims of unscrupulous politicians who only use them to incite violence in the country during election seasons and dumped them to their fate after they achieved their aims.
He also condemned political parties for using some alleged macho men mainly made of innocent youth to disrupt the limited voter registration that had been carried out by the Electoral Commission throughout the country.
He said the practice being adopted by some politicians before the elections is uncalled for and asked the police as well as other security agencies to ruthlessly deal with such miscreants to ensure a peaceful environment for Ghanaians to do their business freely without fear.
"To you young men and women, it is only in election time that politicians discover you exist, so when they need some people to go and sing and dance they call you, sometimes too when they need some people to go and insult others they call you, you must resist the temptation of being their entertainers, you must resist the temptations to be used for something negative," he said.
He also slammed the pretentious acts of some politicians preaching 'Peace' messages only during election periods but noted that 'peace' must be a part of our daily lives and challenged political leaders to always preach the essence of peace to their followers not only on elections periods.
"There is going to be an election in November 7, but what makes me unhappy is that we always wait until the year of election and we start talking about Peace, we start telling people about their responsibilities making all kinds of promises as if it is only in election year that we must live according to the truth, according to the wishes of the people, it is almost as if it is election year that politicians remember that there are people in this country with needs," he lamented.
