Parliamentary candidates commend centre
Two parliamentary candidates in the Kumasi metropolis who contested the December 7 parliamentary election have commended the Centre for the Development of People (CEDEP) for the assistance it extended the candidates during the electioneering.
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They are the National Democratic Congress (NDC) parliamentary candidate for Tafo, Ms Memuna Kabore Abubekr-Saddique, and Mr Suleiman Seidu, the People’s National Convention (PNC) candidate for Subin.
Ms Abubekr-Siddique said the platform provided by the organisation enabled the candidates to reach out to the electorate and contributed greatly to peaceful, smooth and almost incident-free elections in the constituency.
Ms Abubekr-Saddique, who was speaking at a programme organised for some candidates in the parliamentary election to thank the electorate in Kumasi, said although she did not win, she was grateful to the electorate for the support.
Peaceful elections.
She said through the platform and assistance provided by the organisation for the contestants, the female candidates were able to reach out to a lot of people.
She said she was, therefore, grateful to CEDEP and other stakeholders who supported them during the political season and asked her party supporters to put the elections behind them and put their shoulders to the wheel to help build the country in opposition.
PNC
Mr Seidu, for his part, commended the organisation for the help it offered the candidates in the region to promote peace and violence-free elections.
He asked members of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) who were allegedly seizing public installations and sacking workers on the grounds that they were members of the NDC to desist from it, as it did not augur well for national cohesion.
He said even though the NDC did the same thing in 2008 when the party won power, the NPP should not retaliate in the same manner but show tolerance and forgiveness.
USAID
CEDEP, through funding from the United States Agency for international Development (USAID), implemented the Reacting to Early Warning and Response Data (REWARD) Programme in 15 constituencies in the Ashanti Region.
The programme created awareness among citizens, party members, including women, the youth and persons with disability in “hotspot” areas against political violence during the elections.
It was also to promote women, the youth and persons with disability as positive participants, leaders and peace-makers in electoral processes, raise public awareness and promote civic understanding of the political processes.
Another objective was to promote peaceful interactions and alternatives to violence among political opponents within the political processes in the 2016 general election.