Queenmothers discuss media’s role in promoting peaceful election
The Queenmother of Daban in the Kumasi Traditional Council, Nana Yaa Asantewaa, has appealed to the media to desist from offering their platforms to unscrupulous politicians to cause fear and panic among the populace.
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She said some of the media houses, particularly the electronic media, allowed people to make unsubstantiated allegations while some engaged in insults and the use of foul language.
She pleaded with the media to watch these things as they could easily trigger violence and destroy the peace of the country.
Peace ambassadors
Nana Asantewaa, who was speaking at a day’s training for some selected queenmothers from the Ashanti Region in Kumasi, as peace ambassadors, said if the peace of the country was to be maintained during and after the elections, the media had a critical role to play.
The training, organised by the Centre for the Development of People (CEDEP), with sponsorship from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), was on the theme: 'Promoting peaceful, violence-free and credible general elections in Ghana, through civil society and citizenry involvement in targeted election processes in 2016 and beyond.'
The participants were drawn from 15 constituencies within the Ashanti Region, mostly from areas that had been identified as election-related hot spots areas.
Regional Peace Council
A representative from the Ashanti Regional Peace Council, Mrs Harriet Takyi, also entreated the queenmothers to use their influence in their jurisdiction to gather all women under one umbrella to preach peace in their communities.
She said women and children usually suffered most when there was an outbreak of war and as such they should educate their children and men on the need to desist from any act that would lead to violence and destabilise the peace of the country.
To buttress her point, Mrs Takyi screened a film on the civil wars in Rwanda, Liberia and Sierra Leone, which depicted the effects of civil wars.
According to her, there had been victors in all wars and called on the politicians to help tone down the situation.
CEDEP
The Executive Director for CEDEP, Mr Charles Sakyi, said some political activists were taking for granted findings by the Electoral Commission (EC) that there were 81 election-related hotpots in the country.
He said peace was very important as it constituted the very basis of human safety and security, and added, "When peace is compromised, it is the poor, the vulnerable and the marginalised in society, including women and children, the aged and people with disabilities, who bear the brunt most."
He thus called on politicians to be mindful of their utterances in order not to disturb the peace of the country.