Peace Advisory Council advises government to take full responsibility of funding elections
The Upper West Regional Peace Advisory Council (RPAC) has advised the State to take full responsibility of funding national elections since mortgaging that job to foreign donors could be detrimental to governance.
RPAC has also called for a level playing ground in respect of election funding since any discrimination could mar the growth of the country’s fledgling democracy.
Alhaji Dawud Rashid Yahaya, Chairman of RPAC gave the advice during a seminar for political parties on the need for peaceful election in 2012.
The Seminar which was on the theme: “Building a Peaceful Society for Election 2012 through Dialogue” was organised by RPAC and attended by political party leaders, religious leaders, the Electoral Commission, the Ghana Police Service and a representative from the United Nations Development Fund.
Alhaji Yahaya, who is also a Deputy Regional Director of Education in Wa, said Ghana is a stable nation in a very volatile Region and to sustain the phenomenon, Ghanaians must demonstrate that they have learned important lessons from the experience of the neighbouring countries.
He urged political parties to conduct themselves in a civil manner by refraining from the use of intemperate language and other acts that had the potential of undermining peace in the country.
Political parties should not also indulge themselves in ethnocentrism since it is detrimental to national peace and unity.
The RPAC Chairman also called for the media to be prevailed upon not to vent intemperate language used by politicians and rather help to promote development.
Alhaji Yahaya asked political parties to avoid the causes of conflicts in elections which included the misuse of incumbency, lack of trust in the electoral processes, the use of intemperate language in the media and the winner takes all syndromes.
He said multiparty democracy could not thrive without viable political parties with well laid out structures and whose leaders are prepared to abide by the tenets of internal democracy.
The RPAC Chairman advised political leaders and their supporters to tolerate the views of one another called for the need to for Inter-Party Youth Dialogue Committees to promote peace at conflict prone areas in the country.
Alhaji Issahaku Saliah, Regional Minister said in a speech read on his behalf that for Ghana to achieve the much desired peace there is the need for consensus building among political parties.
He said in order to achieve this; political parties must endeavour to meet regularly to share ideas on how to educate their supporters to know how to conduct themselves during election campaigns.
Source: GNA