Churches and other stakeholders to promote peace ahead of elections

Moral Re-armament and Initiative of Change (MRA/iofc) Ghana, a Non- Governmental Organisation, has launched its 2020 clean election campaign with a call on churches to use their media to promote peace and stability ahead of the forthcoming elections.

Churches, as one of the many civil society organisations, owe it a huge responsibility to themselves and the nation to address their members on the need to keep intact the peace being enjoyed.

In an interview after the launch, an executive member of the organisation and chairman of the occasion, Rev. Dr. Richard Amponsah who made the call said peace was a shared responsibility and all stakeholders including; citizens must put their shoulders to the wheel to sustain the peace.

The target group in this year’s campaign, which was on the theme; “peace, just governance and sustainable democracy”, is the youth and the young people used by political parties in violent political campaigns and confrontations.

He called on Ghanaians to take the peace they were enjoying for granted, adding that even though there was the absence of war over the years, there was the need to keep drumming the peace messages to maintain the status quo.

The NGO he said, in every election year since 2000, launched similar campaigns and made peace statements before, during and after the elections as contributions to national cause.

The Chairman of the NGO, Rev. Dr. Francis Acquah in a message said once again, duty awakens us all to our civic and moral responsibility of making a meaningful contribution towards the maintenance and sustenance of the democratic process in our country.

The issues at stake, he said were too dear to life for any individual or groups to exhibit apathy or engage in actions that could destroy instead of building and enhancing democracy.

According to him, the NGO recognized that the sustenance of prevailing peace and democracy depended on campaigns that would be run and the manner of handling electoral processes, and the determination to ensure just governance by those who were given the mandate to rule.

“It is in this spirit that we reach out to you as another election period draws closer. The only reason why evil prevails is when good people decide to be quiet and refuse to act in the face of life threatening situations”, he said.

A brief speech read on behalf of the Ga Mantse, King Tackie Teiko Tsuru II said we should make the conscious effort as citizens to maintain the peace for posterity adding the greatest of men are those who lived to pursue, project and protect peace within society.

“The Ga State supports the call for peace to be given a chance in our beloved country” he said.



In a speech, a representative of the Greater Accra Queen Mothers Association, Nana Ama Djanbea II said while it was expectant of the electoral commission to ensure free, fair and peaceful election, the onus equally lied on the political players in the country.

She said when the activities of the electoral commission leading to a general election was not made transparent, and accessible to the people, they would in turn draw their own conclusions, that might lead to chaos and further lead to violence.

“No activity of the EC should be seen as trying to disenfranchise any member of the voting public, she said.

The NGO has helped to organise a peace march during International Day of Peace to create awareness and sensitize the public on the need to pursue actions that promote peace, before, during and after elections.