The Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, has appealed to political parties and their supporters to abide by the Peace Declaration signed by their presidential candidates in Kumasi.
He said even though party leaders had made commitment to peace, there were millions of party activists and supporters out there “who see the elections as do-and-die affair” and behaving like their entire future depended on the winning of the election by their candidates.
There is the need to enjoin all of them to conduct themselves in consonance of the commitment that had been made by the leadership and eschew all negative tendencies.
Otumfuo Osei Tutu was speaking at a meeting held for the eight candidates at the Great Hall of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in Kumasi.
Organized jointly by the National Peace Council (NPC) and the Asante King with technical support from the Institute for Democratic Governance (IDEG), the forum was on the theme “Promoting peaceful elections: Taking a stand against electoral violence, impunity and injustice”.
The Asantehene noted that it would take more than the faithfulness of the Electoral Commission (EC) to ensure the integrity of the electoral process.
He described as refreshing the firm assurance by the security agencies to do everything to protect the peace and ensure fair, free and transparent elections.
He asked them to make sure that any official, political party activist or supporter, who would attempt to subvert the integrity of the polls, must not be allowed to have his or her way.
They should not permit anybody to use motor cycles to disturb the elections.
The Asantehene appealed to Ghanaians to make the Kumasi Declaration one of the pillars and a lasting legacy for the country’s democracy.
Mr Paul Tawiah Quaye, the Inspector General of Police (IGP), said maintenance of public peace and security as well as prevention of electoral violence was a shared responsibility of all Ghanaians.
He said in-spite of the challenges faced by the police service and other security agencies they were determined to deliver on their mandate to keep the peace, before, during and after the elections.
The IGP said the interventions they put in place in the first phase of the electoral process had resulted in a relative peaceful electioneering campaign.
The police administration will release over 41,000 personnel to police the elections across the country while the military will provide 5,000 troops. He advised the people to desist from acts that had the tendency to destabilize the nation.
Chief Justice, Mrs. Georgina T. Wood, asked all Ghanaians to play more responsible roles in their respective capacities to enhance the credibility of the elections.
The electoral process must be devoid of all forms of intimidation, violence and malpractices.
She appealed to the political parties to accept the outcome of the polls, use acceptable mechanism to seek redress of their grievances.
They should impress upon their followers to refrain from acts that were inimical to national peace.
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