The Volta Region Inter-Party Dialogue Committee (IPDC) has been reactivated ahead of the 2020 general elections to promote peace and resolve conflicts before, during, and after the elections. The Committee will also provide an effective platform for key stakeholders to engage the various political parties on securing the prevailing peace of the Region for accelerated socio-economic development.
It will also educate and monitor the activities of the political parties, their supporters and the electorate to ensure that such activities and behaviours are in conformity with the law for achieving free, fair and peaceful elections.
Mr. Kenneth Kponor, Volta Regional Director of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) said peace is a prerequisite for national development therefore there was the need to put all the necessary measures in place to secure the current prevailing peace in the country. He said the reactivation of the Committee ahead of the 2020 elections was paramount to re-energize the members and also to develop qualitative ideas which would serve as an action plan to guide them on how best to ensure that the upcoming elections are conducted devoid of violence.
The Director said the Committee in collaboration with other stakeholders would be working to identify areas that are potential zones for conflicts so that much attention would be focused on those areas to effectively deal with factors that could easily trigger violence.
Mr. Kponor said the Committee would also initiate measures to deal with issues of defacing posters, biased media reportage and campaign violence so that the current prevailing peace of the country would not be jeopardized before, during, and after the 2020 elections. He said the committee would look at the use of provocative and abusive language by political parties, issues of vote-rigging, and abuse of incumbency and ensure that “the political parties behave in a manner that is expected of them.”
The Director said the Committee would also monitor the distribution of money and gifts to electorate and declaration of elections results by political parties and their members, and put measures in place to ensure that such things were reduced for free, fair, and transparent elections.
Madam Joyce Afutu, Director of Communications and Corporate Affairs, NCCE, Accra, urged the members of the committee to be committed and dedicated to peacebuilding in the Region. She said the nation’s quest for accelerated socio-economic development and democratic growth could only be achieved in a prevailing peace environment and therefore urged all the citizenry to desist from acts that could jeopardize the peace of the country.
Reverend Seth K. Mawutor, Chairman, Volta Regional Peace Council called on the various political parties and the electorate to disengage themselves from acts that could mar the peace of the country.
Mr. Paschal Agbagba, National Democratic Congress’s (NDC) Director of Elections, Volta, said it was important for all political parties to ensure that the 2020 elections were held in an atmosphere of peace and tranquillity and urged the Electoral Commission to “play the game fairly” during the limited registration exercise and the general elections.
Mr. Ronald Kaykay Kodzo Fiakpui, New Patriotic Party, Regional Executive member, urged the various political parties to be circumspect about their utterances as such utterances could plunge the country into chaos.
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