Be professional in election conduct - Clergyman urges EC, stakeholders
A clergyman has called on the Electoral Commission (EC) and the security agencies to strictly adhere to professional standards in the performance of their roles as the country heads to the December 7, 2024, elections.
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Rev. Maxwell K.K. Liwangol, the General Overseer of the Evangelical Church of Ghana, said a peaceful election whose outcome would be acceptable to all political parties would depend on the professionalism with which the EC in particular discharged its mandate.
“The Chairperson and other officials of the EC must know that they are not there for party A or party B; they must remain neutral in the conduct of the elections. If party A or party B wins the elections, the results must stand as such because anything short of that could plunge the country into chaos and commotion,” he said.
Nkornyaab Association
Rev. Liwangol stated this in an interview with the Daily Graphic during the 27th-anniversary celebration of the Nkornyaab Association, a community-based group at Old Fadama in the Greater Accra Region.
The anniversary, which was held on the theme “Focusing on the capacity building of our youth for a better tomorrow,” brought together chiefs, clan leaders in Old Fadama and some political personalities.
Present at the event were the Member of Parliament for Wulensi in the Northern Region, Dawuni Abukari, and the New Patriotic Party parliamentary candidate for Nkwanta-North in the Oti Region, Benjamin Munyum Nador.
Rev. Liwangol stressed that given the crucial nature of this year’s elections, it was important for the police and other security personnel to prioritise the national interest by being professional in discharging their duties and refusing to allow themselves to be used by politicians to unleash mayhem.
“As a police officer, a soldier or security personnel, you have been professionally trained to protect lives and ensure the safety of citizens. Do not allow any politician to use their money to influence the performance of your core mandate during this year’s election,” he said.
The clergyman also called on political parties to put the national interest first by ensuring that they conducted their activities in a way that did not inflame passion or trigger violence.
“We want to advise that if you are vying to become the President or a Member of Parliament, you are coming to lead people. Meanwhile, if these people are killed because you want power or there is chaos in the country, who will you rule over? We are asking the political parties to know that you cannot exist without the people,” he said.
He urged the media to be circumspect in the dissemination of information during the electoral campaign. “Instead of priding yourselves as being the first to break the news, media houses and journalists should rather focus more on putting out accurate and factual information, especially in this election year,” he stressed.
Youth urged
The Chairman of the Nkornyaab Association, Daniel Adansie, underscored the need for the youth to seek higher education and be useful to themselves and society. He said rather than allowing themselves to be used by politicians to foment trouble during elections, the youth should be focused on building their capacity through education and skills acquisition.
A founding member of Nkornyaab Association, Thomas Waja (retd), observed that an educated youth was an empowered youth “and no politician can use such young people to perpetrate mayhem during elections.”