Member of Parliament for Ellembelle in the Western Region, Emmanuel Armah Kofi-Buah, has advised politicians in the country to desist from making power acquisition a life and death matter.

He said, "It breaks my heart when we reduce politics to life and death instead of paying attention to development and our core mandate as politicians".

The MP advised that the political class in the country should instead take up the responsibility of adequately informing their followers to understand the essence of political power and its dynamics.

According to him, political power draws its inspiration and source of strength from politics which must therefore be carried out with discipline and decency.

Instead of citizens concentrating on negative issues causing division, anxiety and polluting the political atmosphere with tension, he said they must pay heed to positive developments drawing citizens together.

"We should spend our time on positive things," he indicated.

Political opponents, he said, must therefore be seen as partners in development, and not tagged and misconstrued as enemies who must be destroyed.

"We are the same people, we just happen to have different views on issues of development", he explained.

Speaking during a courtesy call on the Ellembelle District Police Commander Deputy Supritendent of Police (DSP) Thomas Bayor on Monday 11th February 2019, he said he was encouraged by the independent assessment of the police command that the political atmosphere in the area was peaceful.

He said the people of Ellembelle, described as peace loving by the police command, would therefore continue to work on the peace process for stability and development.

He said the political leadership in Ellembelle would continue to avoid issues hitherto formenting troubles and has the tendency to cause violence. "Even how we speak to one another, we will be tolerant and extra careful"

He appealed to the police command to keep an eye on impending political events in the area such as internal parliamentary primaries of political parties, the upcoming local government elections among others.

Upholding state institutions to function

The lawmaker said aside political tolerance which is key in democratic governance, structures of democracy including state institutions must be respected and jealously protected by all citizens.

"It is very critical as a country that especially those in the political class will do things to make people have faith in our democracy, and the only way they have faith in our democracy is to make sure that we respect the institutions of state and we strengthen them by our actions".

He said decent political atmosphere requires all hands on deck and not necessarily only the political class serving in government "I think it is very critical whether we are in or out of government, it is important that we support the police, it is important that we strengthen the police".

Role of citizens in fighting crime

Armah Kofi Buah explained that the citizens of the country would play an instrumental role in fighting crime if they partner the police institution to discharge their constitutional duties with tact "We have to be the ones that are providing the police the information on the bad guys, but if we fail to speak, we are as guilty as the criminals".

He said local communities would therefore have to recognize this vital role and support the police to deliver their mandated constitutional responsibility.

"The communities have an important role to play in supporting the police to function", he said.

He acknowledged the role of the police service and allied institutions who continue to play an integral role in guaranteeing peace and security in the country "Without peace, we can not go on with our daily businesses".

He commended the security agencies in the country for working assiduously day and night to protect citizens despite challenges confronting the institution.