President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has expressed worry about the apprehensions that have greeted each and every election in the Fourth Republic.
He has therefore vowed to dispel the fears by making this year’s election, the first under his watch, a very peaceful one.
“I am hoping that this year when I will be in charge of the process that I can give an example that will make it possible for us in future not to look upon these imbroglio [and] bouts of apprehension and fear and because of elections peace and security of our country is going to be jettisoned.”
President Akufo-Addo gave this assurance on Tuesday after a meeting with the Christian Council of Ghana.
Leadership of the Council called on him at his office to pray with him and draw his attention to some pressing issues in the country.
In responding to a concern raised by the Council on apprehensions that greet elections, President Akufo-Addo said elections must become normal processes in Ghana just like in any other developed democracy.
“But unfortunately, it appears that we haven’t got there yet,” he bemoaned.
“And for myself who has given my life to the struggles of democracy in Ghana, it continues to be a matter of great pain or regret that still we should have these things.”
The Commander-in-Chief of the Ghana Armed Forces said he has charged the security agencies to ensure even-handedness in dealing with criminal conduct on the part of political actors.
He said tensions have arisen as a result of coloration given to crime by the law-enforcement agencies.
“If an NPP man causes a problem or assaults somebody in public, he should be dealt with as a citizen of Ghana and not as a member of NPP,” he recommended.
“It doesn’t matter the fact that NPP has its president in office. I think that if we can develop that culture in our country, very soon these apprehensions that we have when elections appear will disappear.”
Chairman of the Council Most Reverend Dr Kwabena Boafo admonished the president to ensure that the phenomenon of attacks on churches is stopped.
Rev Dr Boafo said when stakeholders act right, the apprehensions that greet elections will be no more.
He particularly cautioned party communicators over their utterances.
“We again humbly appeal that party communicators avoid politics of insult, the use of defamatory words and avoid ethnocentric statements during election campaign to help us sustain the peace we have enjoyed as a nation.”
He commended the president for spearheading policies like the Planting of Food and Jobs that have gone a long way to improve the plight of the poor.
By Emmanuel Kwame Amoh|3news.com|Ghana