Volunteers mark International Day of Peace
The President of the World Peace Volunteers, Mr Seth Osei Acheampong, has added his voice to the call for peace before, during and after the upcoming December 7, 2016 elections.
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Mr Acheampong said “the old philosophy of an eye for an eye leaves everybody blind”, hence the need to promote peace.
Mr Acheampong was speaking at a news conference in Accra in commemoration of the International Day of Peace, which is marked every September 21 across the world.
He noted that the upcoming election was seen by many connoisseurs as the decider of the fate of many political parties and that allusion was creating some tension in the country that must be discarded with utmost disapproval.
Peaceful campaign a reality
Mr Acheampong said Ghana had experienced relative peace since 1992 when it entered the fourth republican democratic era, with little records of severe political violence because Ghanaians saw themselves as one big happy family, whose members believed in different political ideologies.
“If only our political leaders and aspirants can clearly understand the future we want to achieve, we can continue to enjoy this peace and record less violent behaviour,” he added.
Mr Acheampong stressed that sustaining peaceful electioneering was not a mirage but a reality that could be created, adding that “if the political players can also bear in mind that politics is an opportunity to serve one’s nation and not a platform to plunge into and loot national coffers, there will be less to worry about winning or losing a seat.”
International Day of Peace
As Ghana joined the rest of the world to mark the International Day of Peace, Mr Acheampong called on stakeholders, including political parties, religious bodies, community leaders, the media, academicians, civil society groups, law enforcement agencies and the populace to play a role in the sustenance of the peace in the country.
During this period of election tension, Mr Acheampong said, it was important for all to support educational programmes on peace, prevent student-teacher conflicts, avoid unnecessary instigations and be each other’s keeper.
“Let us not forget that peace does not occur by chance. It is a product of the conscious and consistent effort of people of goodwill acting together for a common good,” he pointed out.