Commit to peaceful election process, Akufo-Addo urges parties and citizens

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has made a passionate appeal to all Ghanaian political parties and the public at large to commit themselves to a peaceful election process as Ghana gears up for the general election on 7 December 2020.

“On the larger issue of the peace of our nation in these sensitive times, let me assure you of the whole-hearted efforts that are being made by my government and I to ensure the peace and stability of the nation as we enter the home straight of the election campaign,” the president said.

“I am calling on all political actors and the citizenry, as a whole, to commit themselves to a peaceful process, and to forgo any resort to violence.”

President Akufo-Addo was speaking on Tuesday 13 October 2020, as he commissioned the refurbished Hall of Trade Unions of the Trades Union Congress in Accra.

As the president said, “The Inspector General of Police and the other heads of the law-enforcement agencies have made abundantly clear their determination to enforce the laws of the land, including the law banning vigilantism, in an impartial, even-handed manner, without recourse to political colour, to secure the peace of the nation. I support fully their attitude, and will give them my maximum backing.”

Submerged differences = common good

Descrribing his long-standing commitment to maintaining the country’s peace and stability, the president recalled how in 2008 he accepted the result of a closely fought election, won by the slimmest of margins (40,000 votes), without asking for a recount.

“Again, in the disputed elections of 2012, I protested the outcome in the highest court of the land and, after proceedings that lasted eight months, I accepted an unfavourable verdict, called on my followers to respect the decision of the court, and Ghana came out with her democratic credentials enhanced, and the peace and stability of the nation maintained,” he said.

The New Patriotic Party, the president argued, has proved to the world that it is “willing and able to submerge our individual and partisan preferences for the common good”.

The party demonstrated “that it was not the ambitions of Akufo-Addo, nor the fortunes of the NPP, that we sought to promote. The stability and progress of Ghana, and the enhancement of her democracy, were the paramount considerations that guided our every action in those difficult days,” he recalled.

Call for co-operation

Ghana, President Akufo-Addo said, has rightly earned a reputation as the pacesetter in democratic governance on the African continent, a reputation he is determined to uphold before, during and after the 7 December elections.

“I will need, of course, the full collaboration and co-operation of the entire citizenry, including members of organised labour, to help attain this end,” the president said.

“We have all to work together to create the environment that will allow the Ghanaian people to make their decision on 7 December in freedom, peace and security. It is their right.”

Click on the link to listen to President Akufo-Addo.

Wilberforce Asare / Asaase Radio

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