Political parties urged to abide by code

Akim Oda, Oct 10, GNA - The Birim South District Directorate of the National Commission Civic Education (NCCE) has appealed to political parties to abide by their code of conduct to help ensure peace in the country before, during and after the December general elections. The Acting District Director of NCCE, Mr Yaw Ofosu-Baah, who was speaking to the media at Akim Oda on Saturday, appealed to religious leaders, traditional authorities, the Ghana Bar Association, women's groups and other identifiable organizations to condemn political parties whose members use abusive language on political platforms.

He said the use of abusive language tended to inflame passions, especially among the youth and urged the electorate to "wise up" and refuse to vote for parties and candidates with unruly behaviour. Mr Ofosu Baah said in order to prevent political tension as a result of the use of abusive language, the Chairman of the NCCE, Mr Larry Bimi, proposed that there should be a moratorium on phone-in programmes until after the December pools.

He said unfortunately some people rejected this idea and said a ban on phone-in programmes would adversely affect free speech. Mr Ofosu Baah said for the sake of peace and stability, there was the need for all Ghanaians to tolerate each other's views to make this year's elections peaceful.