Don’t plunge country into disorder using social media
The Eastern Regional Representative on the Council of State, Nana Kodua Kesse II, has advised Ghanaians to cross- check every information they receive on social media platforms before reacting.
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That, he said, would help prevent chaos, especially as the country heads to the polls in December.
According to him, although he envisaged a peaceful election, the probability of certain groups plunging the country into disorder using social media should not be ruled out.
Nana Kodua Kesse II, who is the Oyokohene of New Juaben, said the peace currently being enjoyed in the country could be threatened if political party leaders failed to take up the responsibility of educating their followers appropriately.
Nana Kesse made these known in an interview with the Daily Graphic in Koforidua recently.
“The messages that are being carried to the youth are what really allow them to do things that are not good. So if leaders give the youth the right message, it will also help them to comport themselves. To the youth, anytime you get any information from social media or wherever, take time to find out what is actually on the ground before you come out to react,” he said.
Nana Kesse also cautioned the media to be circumspect in their reportage in order not to misinform the public.
“My appeal also to the press is, make sure that whatever you portray on your front page, goes with the inside story,” he said.
“Let’s act peace”
The Council of State member also urged the Electoral Commission (EC) to act in a manner that would not derail the country’s peace.
“There have been agitations, creating the impression that the EC has been giving special preference to certain political parties. But this is the situation where the Chairman of the EC must make sure that she treats all the political parties fairly so that there will be no agitation for trouble whatsoever.”
He said although the commission had come under a lot of criticism in the run-up to the election, he was confident that the EC would live up to expectation of being an independent, fair and objective body.
“Naturally, if you want to have peace, you have to be very transparent, be very objective, open up, give everybody fair treatment. If you want to have peace, naturally, you have to treat everybody equal,” he said.
Advice to political parties
Nana Kesse further advised political party leaders to be cautious in their utterances and educate their followers to do same.
“This is not the first time Ghana is going through this exercise. Since 1992 there have been series of elections. Anytime we enter this period, considering the political tension in the atmosphere, we see a lot of people making a hell of noise and other things. But at the end of the day, everything ends up successfully,’’ he stated.
“So for now, considering the situation we are in, my appeal is that all the political parties should play cool…we have to make sure that we sustain the peace that we are enjoying so that whoever emerges the winner, we all throw our weight behind that person to move the country forward,” he counselled.
