Politicians told to respect values of democracy

Some eminent Ghanaians have appealed to politicians to do everything to uphold the values of decency and fair-play to sustain the growth of the country’s democracy.

They need to respect and strictly abide by the political parties’ code of conduct to remove suspicion and tension as the nation inches towards the December general polls.

The attitude to win political power at all cost must be jettisoned. The call was contained in a communiqué issued by a group of eminent Ghanaians who gathered in Kumasi to dialogue on ways of strengthening national capacities for managing electoral disputes.

They were drawn from the 10 regions and represented various institutions including women and religious groups, traditional rulers and civil society organizations.

The two-day meeting was held under the auspices of the West Africa Network for Peace-building (WANEP) with support from STAR-Ghana.

It reminded all Ghanaians about the need to accept to work together to protect the nation’s peace, unity and cohesion.

“We should never allow divisions amongst ourselves on the account of politics, especially when these divisions are sowed by leaders of political parties on the basis of ethnicity and or our various regions.”

The communiqué again underlined the need to adequately resource the Electoral Commission (EC), the National Peace Council, the security agencies and other institutions of state to perform their duties professionally.

It also appealed for greater inclusion and involvement of women in efforts at promoting peaceful elections.

Deliberate effort should be made to ensure that more are included in the regional and district peace councils.

The group pledged to work hard in their various regions and at the national level to promote the peace before, during and after the polls.