Okyehene Suggests Accra Decongestion

Okyehene Osagyafo Amoatia Ofori Panyin has called on government to decongest the country’s capital city by moving some head offices such as the Ministry of Forestry, Lands, Mining and License offices to other regions to make Accra open.

He made the call during the launch of a project to promote non-violence ahead of the 2012 general elections.

He explained that since all these offices are in Accra, majority of the citizens have travel to the city, noting, “A teacher in a village who has been transferred to another village must come to Accra to stockpile the transfer letter.

The Okyenhene could not fathom why after 54 years of independence the country cannot build highways, stressing that citizens have to travel for more than four hours before reaching their destination.

“The past needs to be redefined, we must see what one has done and continue,” he stated, adding that Dr. Kwame Nkrumah left the country with quality education but it has been destroyed.

He advised all citizens to stand against political violence, speak no violence, hear no violence and do no violence.

He also asked Ghanaians to respect each other’s views and explained that although political party leaders call for peace during their campaign, we still see a level of violence during election therefore the right person to avoid violence is the citizenry.

The Deputy Chairman of National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), Augustine Akusua Akumanyi said Ghana has observed 19 years of peaceful elections without violence but now everybody is afraid of 2012 election.

She said whenever an election year approaches many people begin to fear for their lives because of violence and death attributed to the campaigns and conduct of the elections.

She noted that CAP-Violence and NCCE have pledged to ensure that the forthcoming 2012 general elections is held in an extraordinary peaceful, free and fair manner.

A Research Fellow at the Institute of African Studies, Dr. Michael Whyte Kpessah, in an address, said if after five elections citizens are still freighted about the coming elections, then it means there is something wrong with the electoral system.

He added that “politicians should know that they might either win or lose the election.”

Dr. Whyte advised all politicians not to see elections as investment since that is a recipe for distortion, adding, “It takes many years to build a nation and just a day to destroy it therefore all should join hands in saying no to political violence.

“No political party has a manifesto, what they have is propaganda,” said Dr. Vladmir Antwi Danso, a Senior Research Fellow at the Legon Centre for International Affairs and Diplomacy, University of Ghana.

He explained that “a manifesto should contain what the constitution consists of and not their usual I will build schools, hospitals, then if they fail to fulfill these promises, the stage is set for the Bamba and Azoka boys to react.”

He said that democracy does not need boys but issues, adding that security must not only mean arresting but preventing violence. He advised the youth not resort to political violence.