Security committee calls for parties' campaign itineraries

Twifo Praso (C/R) Oct. 6, GNA - The Twifo-Hemang-Lower Denkyira District Security Committee (DISEC), on Friday directed all political parties in the area to submit their campaign itineraries to it for scrutiny in order to avoid clashes and ensure sanity during campaigns. Mr Samuel Agyeibie-Kessie the District Chief Executive (DCE) and Chairman of the Committee, who gave the directive, noted that it was an offence to deface posters of aspirants and appealed to the public to desist from such practices.

The DCE, who was addressing a forum organised by the DISEC in conjunction with the assembly to formulate strategies to ensure the maintenance of peace before, during and after the December 7, 2008 elections, called on parties to educate their supporters to comport themselves during rallies.

He said political opponents were not enemies and therefore politicians and their parties should learn to be tolerant. The forum was attended by representatives of political parties, religious leaders, parliamentary aspirants, assembly members and traditional rulers in the Twifo Ati Morkwa and Hemang-Lower-Denkyira constituencies.

The DCE advised parliamentary aspirants to refrain from making promises of providing projects, since they were lawmakers and does not implement projects.

The participants agreed that the district and the nation as a whole needed peace to step up developments, and pledged to help stem any acts that would spark off conflict before, during and after the December 7, 2008 general election. An independent parliamentary aspirant for the Hemang-Lower-Denkyira constituency, Mr Bright Wireko-Brobbey, urged the media to be neutral and objective in the discharge of their duties. The media, he said, must be circumspect in their utterances during campaigns to avoid violence.

Mr Abraham Odoom, Deputy Minister of Health and aspiring parliamentarian for Twifo Ati Morkwa constituency, appealed to other parliamentary candidates in the area to adopt a realistic approach in their campaigns and refrained from inciting violence. The presiding member of the assembly, Mr Emmanuel Agyeman, advised the youth not to allow politicians to use them to cause mayhem. Nana Appiah Nuamah II, Omanhene of Twifo Mampong Traditional Area, also stressed the need for the maintenance of peace in the country, and the need for campaign messages to be based on issues. Pastor Enoch Appiah, a representative of the Local Christian Council, said the success of the election would depend on continuous prayers and education. He appealed to churches to use the pulpits to educate their members and pray regularly for peaceful elections.