Peace Council develops roadmap to prevent election violence

The National Peace Council has created a road map to combat electoral violence and boost mechanisms that promote unity, political tolerance, and nation-building.The roadmap includes a meeting with the immediate past and present Chief Justices to discuss the timeline for parliamentary election adjudication, which would contribute to reforms after the 2024 elections.Rev Dr Ernest Adu-Gyamfi, Chairman of the NPC, disclosed this during a collaborative discussion with the Council's Governing Board members.The forum brought together religious groups, traditional leaders, and civil society organisations, among others, to map out a strategy for securing peaceful elections in the country.He said the Council had undertaken a series of programmes and activities to foster peaceful environment before, during, and after the elections.'The NPC has engaged stakeholders in the five constituencies where loss of lives occurred, namely, Awutu-Senya, Odododiodio, Ablekuma Central, Techiman South, and Savelugu.'The le ssons and recommendations from those engagements served as building blocks for a three-day national conference that took place from June 29 to July 1, 2021 in Ada,' he said.Rev. Adu-Gyamfi said some key outcomes of the dialogue instituted by the Council included the need to strengthen election governance, transparency, and credibility, improve election security, among others.He said the Council had facilitated dialogues between the political parties and the security agencies to resolve issues of election violence at the national and regional levels.Rev. Adu-Gyamfi stated that the Council had engaged the Electoral Commission multiple times to deliberate on areas of concern and seek clarification on issues brought to the Council's attention.He emphasized that peacebuilding was a collaborative endeavour, and that participants' contributions were vital as the country neared the 2024 general election.'Your participation is crucial in shaping the Council's initiatives from conflict resolution to social co hesion to create a more harmonious and peaceful Ghana,' he said.Some of the participants called for more funding for the Council to execute its mandates in an efficient and effective manner.Source: Ghana News Agency