Accra, Nov. 26, GNA - Dr Kwesi Aning, Head of Conflict Prevention, Management and Resolution at Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Centre (KAIPTC), on Wednesday urged politicians to desist from playing ethnic and religious cards in their campaigns since it could generate post-election conflicts.

"The ethnic card is a key issue in generating political violence but politicians have been exploiting the card by using ethnicity and religion to manipulate the electorate and inciting the youth to engage in violent acts," he said.

Dr Aning was speaking at a Citizens' Public Forum organized by the Institute for Democratic Governance (IDEG), on the theme, "Disputed Elections and Their Consequences in Kenya and Nigeria - Lessons for Ghana", in Accra.

It was to provide citizens with a platform to deliberate and interact on issues of flawed elections and their consequences, in Accra. Dr. Aning said "Ethnicity is very crucial in every facet of Ghanaian life and ethnic identities are being heightened more in this country than our Ghanaian nationality".

He said although political violence was a culture of impunity that inhibited economic growth there were people who took advantage of such acts to promote their selfish interests.

Dr Aning said "Poverty is not the source of conflict but we allow politicians to use ethnic slogans and other forms of inducements in manipulating us. Even the police have lost their credibility before the public because some politicians use their bodyguards to protect their families, property, attack political opponents and even intimidate voters".

He advised the electorate to put aside their parochial interests and subject the policies and manifestoes of political parties to critical analysis.

Dr Aning said "Political repression goes up when political parties refuse to accept criticisms, but politics is about responsibility and not having access to public wealth."

He said the identification of flash points in some parts of the country posed a major challenge in terms of conducting peaceful and credible elections.

Dr. Jibrin Ibrahim, Director of the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) Nigeria, observed that past elections in Ghana had been peaceful because of the high level of civic consciousness, level playing ground for political parties, establishment of state of the art electoral rules and procedures and the culture of development and advancement on the techniques of electoral administration. He advised the electorate to be conscious of their response to provocations by the political class.

Dr Grace Wamue, lecturer at the Department of Gender and Development at Kenyatta University in Kenya, said post-election conflicts in the country led to family separations, closure of schools and high inflation.

"Kenya suffered politically, economically and socially and the country is struggling to regain its socio-political credibility worldwide. Ethnic and tribal campaigns on political platforms must be avoided in order to promote peace and unity."

Mr Kofi Bentum Quantson, called for a review of national policies that could generate social and political tension. Dr Emmanuel Akwetey, Executive Director of IDEG, called for the conduct of peaceful, transparent and credible elections in order to consolidate the country's democratic gains.

The forum was attended by 150 people including representatives from political parties, youth and women groups, electoral commission, judiciary and security agencies. 26 Nov. 08