Coalition of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in governance and security under the auspices of the West Africa Centre for Counter Extremism and the Africa Centre for Security and Counter Terrorism Saturday morning (5 December, 2020) held a peace dubbed: “The One Ghana Peace Walk” on some principal streets of the Tamale Metropolis to advocate for a peaceful electoral process before, during and after the December 7, 2020 general election.
Hundreds of the youth in Tamale both male and female and some supporters of the two leading political parties, the New Patriotic Party and the National Democratic Congress participated in the walk.
Notable political such as the NDC Aluta Boys, Peace Ladies together with some NPP youth groups carried placards with inscriptions such as, “Peace Begets Development”, “Our Lives Matter Most”, “Let The Polls Be Peaceful”, “Ballots Not Bullets” among others.
Acting Programmes Manager for the Africa Centre for Security and Counter Terrorism, Alhaji Amadu Mohammed Faisal explained to the media the objective of the occasion was to campaign peace in the northern region before, during and after the general election which is barely 48 hours.
He revealed similar peace walk have been organized across the other regions of Ghana with the clear message to every citizen and all stakeholders that peace is very fundamental to the Ghanaian democracy.
“Polls are about choices and you may disagree with another person’s choice but of course you have to respect the person’s fundamental human rights” he added.
“So this peace walk is just to send the message across to everyone that we should be peaceful, we should protect the peace we have and we should ensure we go into the polls with peace and leave the polls with peace and whoever emerge as the winner we should all rally behind that fellow to administer the governance of the country” he stressed.
Alhaji Faisal further commended the youth for their high level of tolerance in recent years and understanding of issues affecting the development of the region and added that, “We are very confident that 7 December is generally going to be peaceful.”
However, he urged the youth to stay away any form of violence and not also allow politicians to use them as agents to cause unrest during the elections.
“As a young person you have to think about leadership yourself because there is nothing that prevents from becoming a leader yourself, so why allow somebody who has already attained something in life to take you to the streets and give you something for today and ask you to snatch a ballot box, demonstrate or cause unrest?” he queried.
He was however of the opinion that the northern region was fast becoming one of the peaceful regions of Ghana compared to the past when the region was classified as a volatile area.
Meanwhile, the Executive Director for Anaam Foundation for Peace Building, Mr. Alhassan Suale Anamzooya commended supporters of the two major political parties and the smaller parties their tolerance and coexistence throughout the peace campaign.
He underscored the importance of peace before, during and after the election and emphasized the need for all stakeholders to contribute towards the sustainability of peace in the region and the nation at large.
