Stop predicting outcome of election - women’s group tells pastors
The Northern Women for Peace, a group of female traders in Northern Ghana, has appealed to pastors who continue to predict the outcome of the election to try and keep their visions to themselves.
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The women who made the appeal at a press conference on ‘Peaceful Elections’ in Tamale last Monday indicated that apart from creating fear and panic among Ghanaians, such practice unnecessarily heightened political tension in the country.
The women also urged religious leaders to include peace messages in their sermons, stressing the importance of dialogue, love, tolerance, forgiveness and abiding by the laws of the land, which are necessary ingredients for ensuring peace.
Political clashes
The group also expressed worry over what it described as the wave of political clashes, reported especially between supporters of the two major political parties, the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), stating that such reported clashes occurring just ahead of the December 7 polls should be a source of concern to all Ghanaians since they could serve as a potential threat to the country’s peace and stability.
The women, therefore, appealed to the police to be on top of the security situation in the country ahead of the election so as to nip in the bud any security threat that might lead to violence before, during and after the election.
Security
The President of the group, Madam Sarah Ajara Musah, who read the statement on behalf of the women at the press conference called on the security agencies, especially the Ghana Police Service, to beef up security and increase their visibility in communities where such violent clashes had occurred between supporters of the NPP and the NDC from now till the political tension completely normalised after the election.
She cited the recent clashes between supporters of the NPP and the NDC in the Odododiodio Constituency which left scores of supporters injured and hospitalised, the unfortunate incident near the Nima residence of the NPP Presidential Candidate, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, the political conflict at Nakpayili and Tinangeria, both in the Wulensi Constituency, and the clash at Tampion in the Nanton Constituency in the Northern Region, to buttress their point.
“Such behaviours that can disturb the prevailing peace in the country must be condemned by all,” she stated.
The women further called on the police to do their professional work without fear or favour to protect lives, properties and the peace in the country, and also entreated the security agencies to resource their intelligence operatives to enable them to pick up signals that could help prevent the pockets of conflicts surfacing few days to the election.
“For us as women, the humiliating circumstances and the pain women, children, the aged and persons living with disabilities go through during times of war are not something we even wish for our enemies, not to dream of experiencing it for any cause.
“That is why we have strongly campaigned for a peaceful election this year. We have done so through peace marches and presented our concerns to some of our respected chiefs to keep reminding politicians of the need to protect the prevailing peace and also advise the youth to avoid tendencies that can trigger violent conflicts,” she stated.
The women noted that violence could be highly infectious and could spread across the whole country within a twinkle of an eye, especially when it was fuelled by partisan politics and particularly in areas where there are already burning chieftaincy issues.