‘Do not offer yourselves as vessels of violence’
The Deputy Chairman (Operations) at the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), Mr Samuel Asare Akuamoah, has called on the youth of the country not to offer themselves as vessels to be used by politicians to cause violence in the upcoming 2016 December election.
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He noted that before and during elections, the youth are induced by politicians to whisk away ballot boxes and machomen fight political opponents.
At the 19th Annual Residential Congress of the Ashanti Regional Students’ Representative Council (ARSRC) at the Bekwai SDA Senior High School (SHS) in the Bekwai Municipality in the Ashanti Region, the NCCE deputy chairman said the act of the youth offering themselves to be used to cause violence should be condemned.
Dwelling on the theme for the five-day congress: “The Role of Students in ensuring Peaceful and Credible National Elections,” he said Ghana was growing by the day with regard to elections and it behoved students and the youth in their entirety to support peaceful elections.
He advised the youth to follow the manifesto or policy statements of all the political parties before deciding on which of them to vote for.
He said though most of them could be engaged in partisan politics in the area of being polling agents and the like, the youth needed to play their part in ensuring peaceful and credible elections.
“If our elections would be peaceful and credible the biggest percentage depends on the conduct of our youth – students who are being used by the various political parties in their political activities. So please, under no circumstance do you have to allow yourselves to be used as vessels to cause violence. Follow the policy statements of all the political parties and exercise your franchise,” he stated.
Leadership skills
The Ashanti Regional Coordinator of the ARSRC, Mr David Ohene Amoako, said six years of organising successful congresses had not been on a silver platter and was hopeful the congress would help students acquire the needed leadership skills and get trained on any other platform that would be available.
He encouraged students to fully utilise the leadership skills imparted to them at the congress.
Both the Patron of the ARSRC who doubles as the Headmaster of the Armed Forces SHS, Colonel Amadu B. Mahama, and the Officer in Charge of the ARSRC, Mr Joe K. Koranteng, expressed the hope that students in the Ashanti Region would go through the 2016 election safely.
The Ashanti Regional Minister, Mr John Alexander Ackon, and the Ashanti Regional Director of Education, Mrs Mary Owusu Achiaw, expressed confidence in the leadership of the ARSRC and asked it to continue organising well-resourced programmes that would help students to network in the region.
They entreated the students to focus on their books and how to build up the career they yearned for instead of following politicians.