President Akufo-Addo charges newly constituted National Peace Council to ensure peaceful elections

President Akufo-Addo has charged the newly instituted National Peace Council Board to safeguard the country’s peaceful climate in the round up to the December polls.

Speaking at the Jubilee House after inaugurating the newly established Peace Council, he entreated them to predominantly instruct political parties and stakeholders to refrain from any acts that will ruin the peace of the country.

“The National Peace Council has become a point of reference for addressing various conflict situations in Ghana particularly election-related conflict. So I charge you members of the newly constituted board to continue the good done by your predecessors and employ the most appropriate strategy that will contribute to sustaining the peace beyond the 2020 election.”

The National Peace Council on November 2, 2020, in a statement issued as part of its peace effort to the two major political parties indicated that, the Council has become a point of reference for addressing various conflict situations in Ghana particularly election-related conflict.

As part of its mandate, the council noted, is the facilitation and development of mechanisms for conflict prevention management resolution and to build sustainable peace in Ghana.

It further condemned the clashes between the supporters of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) resulting from a “Health Walk”, which led to rioting, violence and shooting with 15 persons allegedly sustaining various degrees of injuries with some hospitalized.

“These acts of violence cast a shadow on the upcoming December elections and must be rejected by all particularly in an era when the major political parties have signed on to the Code of Conduct and Roadmap towards the eradication of political and election-related violence in Ghana. The National Peace Council condemns the violent acts which occurred and calls upon the leadership of NDC and NPP in the Odododiodio Constituency to call their followers to order”.

With this, the Monitoring Committee of the National Peace Council “set up to monitor compliance with the Code of Conduct held an emergency meeting that discussed, analysed and recommended ways of avoiding such threats to the December 2020 elections and beyond”.

“That the NDC and NPP should respect the Roadmap and the Code of Conduct towards the eradication of political vigilantism and the Code of Conduct which they signed up as part of their commitments towards ending political violence in Ghana. It is therefore worrying that both political parties and their supporters will continue to engage in electoral violence”.

The Peace Council further urged the NDC and NPP as they have a duty “to respect the existing legal framework for addressing issues of electoral violence. The National Peace Council and its partners urge the leadership of the NDC and NPP to resort to the laid down mechanisms under the Code of Conduct to resolving any misunderstanding”.

Captured in the recommendation is a reminder to these political parties, especially NDC and NPP “that they have publicly subscribed to a Roadmap and a Code of Conduct on the eradication of all kinds of political vigilantism and election-related violence”.

“To this end, both NDC and NPP have declared publicly that political vigilantism is inimical to Ghana’s democratic system and must be eradicated. Consequently, they have both pledged to: Disbanding vigilante groups operating for political purposes; prohibiting the ownership, hiring, or utilization of such groups by the political parties or members thereof and Cooperating with state agencies and stakeholders in the total eradication of such groups or incidents of vigilantism in the country”.

Calls were made by the Council to the Ghana Police Service with respect to being more proactive in responding to potential threats to election security.

“It is in this respect that the National Peace Council calls on the Inspector General of Police and the Ghana Police Service to rise up to the occasion as they usually do to speedily investigate and prosecute all culprits, to serve as a deterrent to others whose actions and inactions have the potential to derail the peace of the country before, during and after 2020 general election”.