Dr Serebour Quaicoe, Director of Election at the Electoral Commission (EC), has advised the youth to shun any form of violence by not allowing themselves to be used to foment trouble in the lead-up to the elections.
He was speaking at a Youth Forum in Accra, organised by the Electoral Commission and Youth Bridge Foundation ahead of the 2020 presidential and parliamentary elections.
“Many attribute the generally peaceful nature of elections in Ghana to the efficiency of the Electoral Commission, which has the mandate to conduct and supervise elections. However, the EC can only achieve its mandate through effective collaboration with stakeholders, including the youth who constitute more than 55 percent of the electorate,” he said.
He added: “If you are going to contest an election in Ghana and you don’t consider the role of the youth then, you don’t want to win the elections, because in Ghana it is absolute majority and the youth are in the majority, so it means that forget about the elderly and concentrate on the youth and you are already a winner. So, we the youth also must learn what constitute offences, anybody who want to create confusion will not fall on the elderly because they are not vibrant and energetic.”
Unspoken threat
The forum, which was under the theme, “Election Offences, the unspoken threat to peaceful elections” was attended by a cross section of the youth including youth groups from the various political parties including media personnel.
Dr Quaicoe said the youth are critical in the selection of a leader in Ghana because they constitute a large majority of the population.
He further advised the youth to be circumspect with the information they circulate on social media, especially during this period.
Fred Dzakpata
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