PRESS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – December 3, 2020
As Ghanaians go to the polls, next Monday, December 7, to elect a President and
Members of Parliament, the Northern Development Forum (NDF) is appealing to
our compatriots to do all that it takes to make the elections very peaceful.
The electoral process in Ghana since 1992 has experienced some level of
violence; unfortunately, the phenomenon seems to be on the ascendancy.
We have observed that Northern Ghana tends to experience increased conflict
around election time due to vote-seeking political individuals who misuse the
youth for their personal gain. In the five Regions of Northern Ghana, over half of
the youth population is illiterate and unemployed or underemployed and are
therefore easily swayed by small monetary incentives to carry out destructive and
even violent acts against parties other than their own around election time.
The NDF is therefore making a specific appeal to the youth in the five northern
regions of Ghana not to allow themselves to be used by selfish and greedy
politicians to cause disturbances or violence but rather play active roles as peace
ambassadors and ensure a peaceful atmosphere during and after the December
7, 2020 elections. We have to work together for unity and development in our
part of the country and not destroy the little that we have.
It is for this reason that we condemn the violence that occurred recently in the
Yagaba-Kubori Constituency, in the North East Region, between supporters of
the two main political parties – the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the
opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC). We therefore urge the Security
Agencies to handle the matter with the serious that it deserves.
While addressing the message to the youth we equally appeal to politicians,
religious and traditional leaders to speak and act positively and exhibit their
commitment to ensure violence-free elections. They should refrain from
engaging in or inciting any violent behaviour and respect other people’s views.
The NDF commends the Catholic Relief Services, Caritas Ghana and other
organisations that have offered training programmes that focused on the role of
youth of Northern Ghana in promoting peaceful elections. It is our hope that as a
result of these progammes we will experience little or no violence during and
after the forthcoming elections in that part of the country in particular and Ghana
as a whole.
Finally, we call on the Electoral Commission to put in place all the necessary
measures that will ensure free, fair and transparent elections for the contestants
to accept and respect the election results gracefully.
Signed:
Major Albert Don-Chebe (Rtd)
Chairman, Northern Development Forum
P/S: NDF is non-partisan advocacy Forum for the development of the five
regions of the northern part of Ghana. For more information on NDF you may
visit our website: www.ndfghana.org.