Okyenhene Preaches Peace

The Okyehene, Osagyefuo Amoatia Ofori Panin, has charged Ghanaians to work hard to sustain the peace and tranquility that exist in the country.

He said Ghanaians had the duty to maintain these in order to protect women and children since they suffered the most during difficult times.

Speaking at the launch of the ‘Ghana Peace Campaign 2012’ yesterday in Accra, Osagyefuo Amoatia said: “There is no peace when there is no food on people’s tables. There is no peace when some schools in the country score zero percent in the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) and there is no peace when teachers are not paid well.”

According to him, the time had come for Ghanaians to be given the opportunity to vote for their choices by placing their destiny into their own hands.

He indicated that great leadership was one which sacrificed personal gains for the development of its community.

He therefore cautioned sympathizers of all the political parties to be vigilant and never allow politicians to use them in pursuit of their selfish desires.

The Okyenhene urged politicians to provide quality education to all Ghanaians and change their attitude towards power, noting that there was the need for the people to choose or vote for a particular leader that they deemed fit to rule the country.

“December 7, 2012, should be seen as just another day in the calendar. We will surely come out of elections as one common people. Having a different political affiliation that does not make us enemies,” he added.

Kojo Frempong, Communications Director of Ghana Peace Campaign 2012, in his remarks said the current political dispensation in Ghana and certain developments had become a concern for many well-meaning Ghanaians because of the potential of degenerating into electoral violence and threatening national peace and security.

The worrying phenomenon, he said, called for a firm, timely and proactive approach to dealing with the incipient threats in order to sustain Ghana’s peace as political activities gathered momentum ahead of the 2012 general elections.

He explained that the Ghana Peace Campaign 2012 was a proactive social intervention of the Millennium Development Projects in pursuit of total peace in the country.

“The peaceful atmosphere in Ghana is akin to a delicate egg that must be supported with both hands to keep it safe. This can be done through the sharing of ideas, avoiding peace-threatening behavior and rubble-rousing speeches. Political parties and their leaders should also educate their supporters to tolerate other people,” he cautioned.

He disclosed that the programme was aimed at building a rigorous peace infrastructure designed to make peace a relevant commodity to both households and businesses.

“Politicians are willing to do anything to win power regardless of the consequences on the civic space. The rancor and brutality and the violence that have tainted the on-going biometric registration exercise foretell grim days for the country as we head towards this year’s general elections,” he noted.

Mr. Frempong observed that his outfit would create a number of interesting programmes such as a national peace concert in all the ten regions, institute national peace wear, create serial callers to talk about peace among other things.

Bishop Charles Agyin Asare, head pastor of Word Miracle Church, in a speech, urged Ghanaians to maintain and promote the peace that they were enjoying.

He indicated that the world was watching Ghanaians with regard to how they would conduct themselves again to demonstrate their maturity in democracy; hence the need to make sure that there was peace before, during and after December 7 general elections.

In view of this, he called on all religious bodies in the country to come together under the same umbrella to pray to the Almighty God to sustain the peace in Ghana.

Source: Daily Guide Ghana