Let’s Make December Elections Peaceful

His Ecellency Prof. Kwaku Danso-Boafo, the Ghanaian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, has reiterated the Ghanaian government’s determination to make the December 2012 elections peaceful, free, fair and transparent.

Speaking at the sixth anniversary and the annual church harvest of the North London congregation of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, Prof. Danso-Boafo said, the only way the government of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) led by His Excellency, President John Evans Atta Mills can achieve that objective, is for Ghanaians to be part of the bio-metric registration exercise currently undertaking by the Electoral Commission in the country.

He said all the government is demanding of every Ghanaian is to just go to their respective registration centres, respond to a few questions about themselves, get finger-printed and registered.

This, Prof. Danso-Boafo said, the process does not need the advocacy of violence and or insults from any political party, individual or group in the country to get its members registered.

The Bio-metric registration, Prof. Danso-Boafo said, was to ensure transparency and accuracy in the forthcoming elections which the government is keen to make free and fair to maintain the country’s enviable reputation of being democratically peaceful.

In all the processes leading up to the elections, the High Commissioner said, the government was going to work within the laws of the country and advised the congregation to advise their brothers and sisters back home to respect the laws of the country because the government in pursuit of peace, free and fair elections, will not leave any stone unturned to see the laws take their natural course during the period.

To those who don’t see the need for the Bio-metric registration, Professor Danso-Boafo said, the old voters register was over twenty years old and most importantly, the country’s political parties believe it was bloated with double and minor registrations and therefore the need to replace it to remove any doubt from the minds of Ghanaians as they go to the polls in December.

Let us all heed the advice of patriotic song writer, Dr Efrim Amu, who wrote the song ‘Yen ara ye asase ni’ which literary is soliciting love for the country, he said, adding “Ghana is the only country we all have and it is incumbent on us as Ghanaians to ensure that nothing disturbs the peace we are currently enjoying in the country”.

Turning to the Church, Prof. Danso-Boafo congratulated the congregation on their anniversary and said, the government of President Atta Mills appreciates their contribution in the form of remittances to their family members back home and more especially to national development in the area of Education, Health and the general development of the country.

He called on the congregation to take the motto of the Presbyterian Church “That All May Be One” seriously and work in unity for both the development of the Church and country. He added that as the country continues to seek development in peace and as the December elections approach, the theme for the celebration, “Let us rise up and build” was very appropriate and called on Ghanaians to also rise up this year and ensure that the year remains peaceful even after the elections.

Source: Information/Public Affairs Ghana High Commission London