Be fair referee. Amakomhene appeals to EC
The Amakomhene, Nana Adu Mensah Asare, has urged the Electoral Commission (EC) to play the role of a fair referee in the December 7 elections.
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He said for peace to prevail in the country and the people to accept the outcome of the election, the EC must be seen as an unbiased and fair referee.
That, he said, was the only way people would trust the commission and accept the outcome of the election and let peace prevail in the country.
Nana Mensah, who is also the Presiding Member of the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA), made the appeal when he launched a regional peace project by the Centre for the Development of People (CEDEP) in Kumasi.
Nana Amakomhene said there could never be peace without justice, and for justice to triumph “the EC must treat all political parties equally and fairly. Peace can never be bought; we can only achieve it. Let’s work towards achieving a lasting peace.”
Commenting on the demonstration by small-scale miners in Obuasi which led to the destruction of properties, Nana Mensah observed that although it was not politically motivated, political parties in the municipality suffered the brunt of their action.
According to him, acts such as what happened in Obuasi should send clear signals to stakeholders on the need to address the needs of the people in the interest of peace.
He commended the centre for coming up with the project “which is aimed at promoting peaceful elections and raising awareness of the public against political violence.
Project
Titled “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 peace project is aimed at enhancing early warning and response systems to reduce the risk of violence in the region.
The project is under the Reacting to Early Warning and Response Data (REWARD) programme of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and will be implemented in 15 constituencies in the Ashanti Region.
The Executive Director of CEDEP, Mr Charles Sakyi, said the objective of the project was to promote peaceful interactions and alternatives to violence among political opponents.