[ 2016-08-26 ]

Sokoti Naaba Sigri Bewong — President of the Upper East Regional House of Chiefs

‘Accept results of December 7 elections’
That is necessary because when it comes to
national elections, it is God who elects a leader
to steer the affairs of state in the collective
interest of all.

Relatedly, the election management body, the
Electoral Commission (EC), has also been tasked to
do its job well by being “very neutral,
transparent and thorough” in the conduct of the
presidential and parliamentary elections on
December 7.

Interviews

These sentiments were espoused by the President of
the Upper East Regional House of Chiefs and
Chairman of the Regional Peace Council, Sokoti
Naaba Sigri Bewong; the Upper East Regional Chief
Imam, Alhaji Adam Yusif, and the Upper East
Regional Police Commander, Deputy Commissioner of
Police ( DCOP) Mr Simon Afeku, in separate
interviews in Bolgatanga in the Upper East Region
last Wednesday.

The three leaders were speaking to the Daily
Graphic during the first in the series of town
hall meetings which opened in Bolgatanga last
Wednesday.

The meetings are an initiative, sponsored and
organised by the Graphic Communications Group
Limited (GCGL), as part of its efforts to bring
political parties and their constituents together
to engage each other in an interactive manner.

The town hall meetings, which will also take place
in Sunyani in the Brong Ahafo Region, Koforidua in
the Eastern Region and Cape Coast in the Central
Region, are part of the GCGL’s efforts at
assisting to deepen and consolidate multi-party
democracy in the country.

They are on the general theme: “Good governance
key to the development and growth of Ghana”.

The political parties are expected to outline
their plans towards free, fair and peaceful 2016
elections at the meetings.

Erosion of confidence

The Sokoti Naaba pointed out that “Ghana has,
over the years, been globally known to have
conducted peaceful elections and nothing untoward
should be done to erode the confidence the global
community has in the country”.

To be able to do so, he challenged all key
stakeholders, including the EC, the National
Election Security Task Force, the media and
traditional authorities, not to rest on their
laurels but discharge their duties in a very
professional manner that had the national interest
and peace as a focus.

According to the Sokoti Naaba, that was the only
way to engender confidence and trust in the whole
national exercise, whose outcome would be accepted
by all Ghanaians in particular and the larger
global community.

The President of the Regional House of Chiefs had
a word of advice for traditional leaders: “We
must remain neutral and allow our palaces to be
opened to all contesting political parties.”

He bemoaned the situation whereby some chiefs were
openly endorsing the candidature of some
presidential aspirants, saying “this is
definitely constitutionally wrong because our
Constitution debars chiefs from partaking in
partisan political activity”.

Preach peace

For his part, Alhaji Yusif expressed the
conviction that this year’s elections would be
peaceful and that Ghanaians would accept and
respect whoever emerges the leader of the country,
come January 7, 2017 when the new President would
be sworn into office.

He disclosed that the leadership of the Muslim
community were preaching in the mosques and
talking to Ghanaians, especially Zongo youth, on
the need for peace before, during and after the
elections.

He said that was imperative because if there was
any confusion and violence, the youth, women and
children were those who would suffer the most.

The Regional Chief Imam also cautioned the
Ghanaian populace to stay away from and shun
violence in the whole electoral process.

Mr Afeku, for his part, observed that there was
relative peace in the region and the police
command was doing everything possible to maintain
and sustain it.

He pointed out that the onus for ensuring peace
before, during and after the elections lay on the
security agencies but the responsibility mostly
lay on all stakeholders, including the
electorate.

GCGL commended

The three leaders commended the GCGL for
initiating and organising the town hall meetings.

They were generally of the opinion that the
initiative was a bold step in the right
direction.

Source - graphic.com.gh

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