Bureau of Public Safety wants Political parties to sign National Peace Agreement

The Bureau of Public Safety has called on the National Peace Council to as a matter of urgency to compel political parties contesting the December 7 polls to commit to a National Peace Agreement in order to guarantee the stability and peace of the country.

This follows clashes between some supporters of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) and New Patriotic Party (NPP) at the Nima residence of the flagbearer of the NPP Nana Akufo-Addo on Sunday.

In a statement, the Executive Director of the Bureau of Public Safety Nana Yaw Akwada also called on the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) to engage religious bodies, chiefs and people to pursue more education programs and activities to ensure public safety in the upcoming elections.

“We submit that further delays in initiating this process will unduly heighten anxiety and deepen acrimony within competing parties and eventually lead to a breach in public order and safety,” he suggested.

Below is the full statement

The Bureau of Public Safety wish to call on the National Peace Council to as a matter of urgency get competing parties in the 2016 elections to commit to a National Peace Agreement as political campaigns moves into a higher gear with less than 25 days to the general election.

We submit that further delays in initiating this process will unduly heighten anxiety and deepen acrimony within competing parties and eventually lead to a breach in public order and safety.

The Bureau of Public Safety strongly believes that the 2016 elections will not be any different from the previous six elections, except we must take steps to use data and information available from previous elections to improve on public safety violations.

We further call on the following State Agencies to act as follows:

The Ghana Police Service and the Electoral Commission to jointly publish the list of flashpoints around the country. In times like these we strongly believe that the more information available to the public the better it is to manage public safety.

The National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) to engage religious bodies, chiefs and people to pursue more education programs and activities to assure public safety in the upcoming elections.

The Bureau of Public Safety wish to encourage the media, as the fourth in the realm of governance to exercise its mandate impartially and at all times ensure accurate reportage of issues and events.

We charge all political parties, especially the NDC and the NPP to call on their teeming supporters to restrain themselves at all times and refer all conflicts to the Law Enforcement Agencies.

All political parties must publicly condemn all acts of violence, hand over perpetrators of acts of violence, report recalcitrant supporters to the Law Enforcement Agencies for further action. We trust that public order and safety cannot be achieved without effective cooperation between State Agencies, the Media, Political parties, identified bodies, and the people.

Story By: Michael Creg Affull

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