The
Paramount Chief of the Bawku traditional area, Naba Asigri Abugrago Azoka II,
on Friday called for peace among political parties in the Bawku area ahead of
this year’s presidential and parliamentary elections in December.
Naba Azoka urged the dominant political parties,
the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC), to
foster peace among their members to
create a peaceful political atmosphere for effective political activities.
Naba Azoka made the call at his palace when he
met political parties to interact with them and deliberate on the way forward
to promote peace during their political activities in the area.
He urged the parties to maintain peace before,
during and after the upcoming 2020 general elections, and reminded them of the
consequences of electoral violence.
He said both parties were working towards the
development of mother Ghana and for that reason, “we should not allow the outcome
of the results to hinder the peace Bawku is currently enjoying, any party that
wins is in our interest, just that they do so with different ideologies”, he
added.
According to him, no political party was worth
more than the peace in Bawku and urged all to help maintain the peace
irrespective of which political party they belong to.
He cautioned the youth to desist from using
offensive language to provoke their opponents under the pretense of political
party allegiance.
Mr Daniel Baya Laar, the Bawku Municipal
Director of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), urged
supporters of the various political parties to work together to maintain peace
in the municipality.
He said the NCCE would soon form inter-party
dialogue committees at all constituencies and encouraged everyone to
participate in it.
Stakeholders such as the Commission for Human
rights and Administrative Justices (CHRAJ), Civil Societies Organization (CSO)
and Faith Based Organization (FBO), Electoral commission (EC), Traditional
Authorities, Security Agencies and Political Parties would be part of the
dialogue to address issues, he added.
Representatives of the political parties
including NDC, NPP, PPP, GUM APC, and LPG pledged their commitment towards ensuring peace before,
during and after the election.
They expressed their preparedness not to involve
or help infuse tension in the Municipality.
GNA