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Hurray! Ghana can shout on to the roof for twenty years of democratic rule but not until we pass another test. A test of successfully and peacefully elect our leaders for the fifth republic of Ghana. The nation would march to the polls to embark on such an important assignment as captured in our national calendar. It appears to be a national ritual when elections are approaching as society sings one tune-we want peace. But I loved it when a leader of a politicalparty mentioned that we cannot force peace. A spot on statement from the state man.Yeah, it is equally imperative to preach a message of peace as we head to the polls. It is not the intention of this write-up to couch you on how to put our country into �pieces�. It is in fact, a non-partisan article that aspires to raise very important issues that worth consideration. Its mission is to delve into how we can democratically elect proficient leader. More importantly, it also explores the role the likes of ordinary citizen, the media and the host of other stakeholders have to play inclusively to achieve a common goal. I believe this election would go down into history as issue-based driven election void of personality attack, vilification, name calling, religion, tribalism and the list is infinity.It is very possible for us to achieve that as a country but not untilwe discern all the issues emanating from the campaign platforms. Speeches and statements springing from party leaders, activists, communicators and supporters should also not be left unscrutinized. Indeed, we have gone pass the era when we used say I belong to party A or B because my parents or relatives belong to that party. I can confidently say that, such an attitude belongs to the infant�s years of yesterday. Unfortunately, it is carried into adulthood. It also buttresses the point that we have consistently failed to exercise our intellectual command to pore over issues as proclaimed by party leaders. We are not where we ought to be as a country. We are not free as envisaged and asserted by our first president over fifty-five years ago. A situation that can be attributed to failed leadership, corruption, selfish leaders, abuse of power, broken promises among others. You are also not far from wrong when you say as citizens we have failed to hold our leaders accountable for their inability to fulfill their promises. Now, can we enforce the social contract that exists between society and its leaders? One is right to say the best way to make sure the social contract is fully executed to the benefit of the populace is through the thumb, the �kokromoti power� as christen in our society. We can rewrite the story coming 7th December. A greatimportance should be placed on how we can write the script to bring the change. My brothers and sisters, let�s all do a comprehensive analysis of all the issues put forth by our politicians based on education, health care delivery, agriculture, unemployment, infrastructures expansion just to mention a few. It is good that they are telling the electorates what they would do if they arevotedinto power. But it is not good enough for them to just tell us their policies. The politicians should not force themselves to build bridges where there are rivers. They should not tell us, we would cross the bridge when we get there. The ideas and the policies should be bold, not over ambitious and should have the ability to stand the test of time. Policies that are not narrow-minded. A well-tailored with right formula policies will do. The policies put forward by those aspiring to be the CEO of our beloved country are as many as the sand on the beach.Rehabilitation, redirection, youth empowerment and economic growth in all sectors of the national economy would be my focus, posited one candidate. Transforming the economy, transform the people among others is my priority, says another candidate. Another says, he would lead an incorruptible administration and grow the economy to drastically reduce the unemployment deficit in the country. Those are the thematic highlight of various manifestoes ofsomepolitical parties. No doubt, they are all brilliant policies and ideas. But they should be able to tell us aboutthe benchmarks; timeline and how feasible their implementations are. Citizens need to know which of their budget allocation will be forgone, how they intend to fund suchpolicies, how the aforementioned policies would transform the economy to raise the living conditions? I will therefore admonish all eligible voters to seek answers to these questions. It should be annulled of partisan andsentiments, it should be fair and sincere. Fair-minded and truthful approach should be espoused. The signal in the vibe clearly suggests that everyone is looking for a poll characterized by tranquility. An election free from violent, abuse of right and malicious utterances. The entire nation should work assiduously to achieve the preached peace. The media as the fourth arm of government in diverse ways can play a leading role for the peace we are yearning for. In the same vein, they can likely orchestrate violent as we approach 7th December. Oh yes, all hope is not lost.Because we can boast of a tried and tested media as a country even though various attitude of some media house should be checked and changed. Reportage ought to be one that provides the opportunity for their audience to make their decision. I am confident that media practitioners would not allow money and the influence of politicians to impede their professionalism. Still on the media, the coverage and the reportage should not orchestrate ill-motives. They should move a bit further to research into the figures and statistic netted in the various policy statements and manifestoes. Well, it would go a long to expose parties who intentions are to throw dust into the eyes of electorates. Once again, one group worthy to mention is our serial callers. If truth is to be told, they can make or break the peace we have been crowing of. Their hate and provoking submission should be disregarded by the conductor of various radio and television programs. Outright condemnation ought to greet any inflaming speech. As media players are encouraged not to entertain any insanity and abusive language, callers have a duty to be on an alert. As we buy airtime to phone-in, let rather use the platform to win vote for our party. Let us seize the opportunity to expound in details the policies of our adored parties. Violence cannot change minds but profound and articulate words can. It would do a lot of good than harm if we can desist from hate speech and personality attack, my associate callers. I am not in any way going neither to pretend nor to run away of the fact that you and I exist. We the ordinary people have a huge responsibility to play. Peaceful elections depend on us. Free and fair election cannot be realized without you and I. Electing a capable and perfect CEO for the country requires that we are up to the task- ensuring peace reigns before, during and after the polls. Let all wrap ourselves with attitudes that signal that we are concerned about the peace of the country. The �macho men� among us, please do not allow yourselves to be bought by politicians this time round. We don�t want our ballot boxes to be snatched and carried away. Such an act over the years has not helped matters. Society frowns on those outlooks and has contributed to electoral violence recorded in the past. Perhaps, you can reserve your energies for the next Olympics game coming 2016. In fact, team Ghana has had abysmal performance in weight lifting in recent times. Peace and instability we adore and abhor respectively before, during and after the polls. All of us have to play our roles diligently as we preach peace all over the nation. We should not just preach it but let us move a step further to make it happen. For out of peace a nation is built. Take it for granted and the nation is doomed for �pieces� and insecurity. We cannot afford to live in �pieces� for a day. Long live Ghana. Joshua Alexander Gyan University for Development Studies Agricultural Technology [email protected]