Tamale, Nov. 13, GNA - Mr Klaus Loetzer, Resident Representative of Konrad-Adenauer Foundation (KAF) on Thursday said the opposition was an important element in politics therefore a political opponent was not an enemy. "The opposition is to provide alternative suggestions for the good governance of a country and check governmental excesses but not out to fight the incumbent," he said. Mr Loetzer was speaking at a two-day workshop on: "Promoting Peaceful Election 2008: The Role of Responsible Leaders" in Tamale. It is being organised by management of Tamale Ecclesiastical Province Pastoral Conference (TEPPCON) with sponsorship from KAF. The participants included representatives of political parties, youth leaders, women organisations, Institute of Local Government, National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) and the Electoral Commission (EC).

Mr Loetzer said it was rather unfortunate that in Ghana and Africa, people interpreted politics as "a matter of life and death" and called for responsible political leaders to educate their supporters on the essentials of politics.

He called on Ghanaians to bury their political differences for the development of their people and communities, recognising that "elections would come and go but the people would continue to tolerate each other". "We must appreciate that elections are a means to an end and not an end in itself and if we understand this then our democracy would function properly," Mr Loetzer said.

Most Reverend Gregory Kpiebaya, Catholic Archbishop of Tamale in a speech read for him, said the moral standards and values of leaders were very important, adding that democracy needed leaders of high moral attitude and values of humanity to ensure that the rights of members of the society were not undermined. He said leaders must serve as a unifying force to re-orient their followers to come to terms with reality and act in good faith for social harmony and cohesion.

Most Rev. Kpiebaya said: "It is sad to note that political parties that are preaching against vote buying are now themselves deeply involved in the act and also registering minors". He noted that this was counter productive and a denial of the rights and freedoms of the citizens and the incidence of vote buying was not done only during national elections but even during intra-party primaries.

"Any political party that manipulates people to create disunity, conflict or make people wilfully blind to the truth and reality would pay a heavy price whether it wins or loses the elections," he warned. Ms Agnes Gandaa, TEPPCON-Partnership Coordinator urged people in the Northern Region to be concerned with issues that would bring development to the area instead of fighting each other on political platforms.

She noted that the percentage of women in high political office in the Northern Region was very low and challenged the political parties to appoint more brilliant women from the Region to ministerial positions. Alhaji Mustapha Ali Idris, Northern Regional Minister, warned against the activities of unscrupulous groups or individuals who might want to cheat or cause mayhem during the elections.

He said Ghanaians were one people and needed to put the interest of the country above any partisan interest adding: "Our forefathers toiled and suffered to build the nation and we must not do anything to destroy it by disturbing the relative peace we are now enjoying". 13 Nov. 08