Election petition: Keeping the peace is not a favour – Minister

A Deputy Minister of Information and Media Relations, Felix Kwakye Ofosu says it is unnecessary to congratulate people for not resorting to violence before, during and after elections.

According to Mr. Kwakye Ofosu, it was time Ghanaians raised the bar on what constitutes acceptable behaviour from political leaders, by insisting that the right things be done without applauding them for it.

The deputy minister made the comments on Metro TV’s Good Morning Ghana Friday, in relation to the petition challenging the declaration of John Mahama as winner of the 2012 election polls.

While the panel of judges of the Supreme Court considers judgment by August ending, calls for peace have been magnified by leading figures in society.

But Mr. Kwakye Ofosu is unenthused by such calls and suggested, doing the right thing as a leader is not a favour but a normal expectation.

He urged Ghanaians to rather compare the country to advanced democracies like the United Kingdom and United States but not turbulent African countries.

He cited that Mitt Romney, the Republican presidential candidate in the 2012 election in the U.S.A, was hugely criticised for dragging his feet in congratulating Democratic Party's Barack Obama, after the former lost the elections.

He questioned: “Why should a court case so engage our attention that we can’t do anything else. Everybody is scared…we have allowed this fear to take the better part of us”.

"We are not going to countenance a situation where people hold us hostage because they have lost elections," Mr. Kwakye Ofosu affirmed.

He suggested that going to court after losing elections or having heated political debates, must not threaten the peace of the country in any way.

As far as civic responsibilities are concerned, “if you do the right thing, we don’t have to commend you,” Felix Ofosu Kwakye said.