In a dramatic turn of events that could shape or rend the country’s electoral processes to the core, both the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) are locked in a disagreement on one side and acceptance on the other over being committed to a peace pate to ensure a calm and orderly electoral process in the December Presidential and Parliamentary elections.
Ghanaians woke up on Thursday, August 15, 2024 to a shock from the National Chairman of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Johnson Asiedu Nketia, stating emphatically that, the umbrella party would not be available and committed for any peace declaration signing.
He sighted past electoral violence which he said went unnoticed or punished to avoid future occurrence.
“Signing a peace declaration doesn’t mean anything to the party, as previous pacts have not yielded any real results. If you allow violence to brew, it will happen whether you sign a declaration or not. That’s why, more than a year ago, I started talking about the need to remove the building blocks for a violent election,
He added in an interview on Joy News “At any stage when something is happening, I call on those who, in the future, will call us to sign a declaration to speak up and stop it from happening.Otherwise, if you let these issues build up and then say, ‘Let’s play a peace football match, sign a declaration, and hope for a peaceful election,’ it won’t work. We did all this and more in 2020. Signing or not signing is not the issue. What we need to address are the building blocks that lead to violence”.
The NPP General Secretary, Justin Frimpong Kodua on the other hand has however appealed and asked the NDC to reconsider its decision and not allow the country to be plunged into darkness.
In a statement, the NPP said “it takes a serious view of the statement and reacts as follows:
1. The NPP finds the comment by the NDC National Chairman very unfortunate and condemns it in no uncertain terms, given the worrying and incendiary nature of the statement.
- We have noted with concern that the leadership of the NDC has gained notoriety for consistently beating the drums of war and preparing the minds of their supporters to reject the outcome of the 2024 general elections, foreseeing their inevitable loss.
- The NPP wishes to make a passionate appeal to the NDC to reconsider their posture by reason of the national interest and desist from making statements likely to fuel tensions in the political atmosphere with far-reaching implications for the peace and security of our dear country.
- We wish to reiterate our firm assurance to Ghanaians that the NPP remains solemnly committed, in words and in deeds, to maintaining the peace and stability of this country before, during, and after the 2024 elections, and will accept its outcome in good faith.
- It is common knowledge that since the advent of the Fourth Republic, the NPP has been the political party that has consistently demonstrated unwavering commitment to maintaining the country’s peace, either before,
during, and after general elections and will never deviate from this commitment.
Meanwhile the Director for Governance, Justice and Peace at the Catholic Bishops Conference, Rev. Fr. Michael Quaicoe, has assured the National Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) of making efforts behind the scenes to guarantee peace wins out in the 2024 election.
“We don’t think that it is only and always has to be what somebody might wish. If we feel that a public addressing of the issue is the most useful at the time, we will. If we feel that other means might be more effective we can employ that as well.
“But it doesn’t mean that because something hasn’t been heard publicly, the bishops are silent. We don’t have any interest in anything apart from the peace and the justice that must prevail in our country.We don’t have any interest in being quiet over it. We engage and engage it as actively as we can” he gave the assurance.
