8 Parties walk for peace
Eight political parties on Saturday morning put their differences aside and joined residents of Wa in the Upper West Region (UWR) to walk for peace as Ghana prepares for the December 7 polls.
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The parties were the National Democratic Congress (NDC), the New Patriotic Party (NPP), the Progressive Peoples Party (PPP), the Peoples National Convention (PNC), the United Front Party (UFP), the United Peoples Party (UPP), the Convention Peoples Party (CPP) and the All Peoples Party (A PC).
The Chief of Staff, Mr Julius Debrah, led the group of about 1,000 to walk through the principal streets of Wa, holding placards with peace messages inscribed on them.
Some of the placards read “We want peace”, “No need for war", "Ghana is all we have”, “Be each other's keeper".
The peace walk was organised by the National Youth Authority (NYA), the National Road Safety Commission (NRSC) and NASSOBA, a local group in the UWR.
Peace is not negotiable
Addressing the group, Mr Debrah reminded them of how important peace is, saying that any country that intended to take development serious must not risk its peace for anything.
"We all have a role to play to make sure our country is safe after the elections," he said.
Mr Debrah said Ghana over the years had enjoyed peace because the citizens were not willing to sacrifice it for anything, and asked why we should allow elections to make us destroy what has been built for years.
“Knowing the benefits of peace, President John Mahama has put in place measures to ensure that the country's peace is not jeopardised before, during and after the 2016 election, ” he added.
He, therefore, called on Ghanaians to distant themselves from any chaos that could harm the country's peace.
Parties pledge peace
All the representatives of the political parties present on the day pledged to allow peace to prevail, irrespective of the outcome of the elections.
They also gave an assurance that they would instil discipline and educate their party members on the need to maintain peace.