President of the Catholic Bishops Conference (GCBC), Most Rev. Mathew Gyamfi has disclosed that the two major political parties; the NPP and the NDC did not show up for a peace conference they organized.
According to the President, given the rising tensions in the country ahead of the 2024 polls, the Bishops Conference put together a meeting to discuss way forward for the elections however, both the NPP and the NDC were missing in that meeting despite being invited.
“We recently had a meeting about two weeks ago on the election, we invited many civil societies, we invited the political parties to be there to witness what is going on at the grassroots. Unfortunately, they didn’t turn up…the two major political parties the NPP and the NDC they did not come for the meeting…”, Rev. Gyamfi revealed in a Joy News interview.
He however added that the Bishops have not given up and are resorting to other strategies to engage the public and also reach the political actors to consent to a peaceful and fair elections.
The Reverend revealed that together with Muslim leaders and other Christian denominational leaders, they are educating their membership to desist from all forms of political violence.
Rev. Gyamfi noted that the GCBC is very concerned because when the political tensions build up and it is not controlled there would be an explosion and all Ghanaians will have to suffer the consequences.
The president was responding to comments made by NPP’s Bryan Acheampong and the subsequent response from NDC’s Malik Basintale.
Bryan Acheampong, the Minister of Food and Agriculture who doubles as MP for Abetifi stated that the NDC would never win the 2024 elections, regardless of their efforts. In response, the Deputy National Communications Officer of the opposition NDC, Malik Basintale, said “… let him refuse to hand over power, and he will see what happens. When iron meets iron, you will see fire.”
Rev. Mathew Gyamfi thus cautioned all political actors to desist from using intemperate language that incites citizens to violence especially as the country draws closer to the December polls. He also called on Ghanaians to reject such politicians who encourage violence just to win political power by voting against them.