Political leaders have been admonished by the National Peace Council (NPC) to be careful with any remarks they make that might incite conflict and jeopardize the nation's peace.
The Chairman of the National Peace Council, Rev. Dr. Ernest Adu-Gyamfi, stated in an exclusive interview with the Daily Graphic, "Let's be careful with what we say and how we say it to ensure that it does not bring instability and unneeded stress into the nation.
The conversation centered on how to preserve and strengthen the current state of peace as the nation moves closer to election season and the two largest parties, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC), prepare to choose their presidential candidates.
The NPP's primary is in November this year, while the NDC's are slated for next month, and the minor parties are gearing up to have their own later in the year.
With a hung parliament virtually evenly split between the NPP and NDC, the two most powerful political parties have been using various manoeuvring and appeal strategies to win over the greater Ghanaian people.
This has been accompanied by some remarks deemed detrimental to the country's peace and security, such as those attributed to Bryan Acheampong, Minister of Food and Agriculture and Member of Parliament for Abetifi, who claimed that the NPP government would never cede power to the NDC.
Aside from the political factors causing tension, there are also localized ethnic and chieftaincy disputes. The most notable of these is the long-standing Bawku conflict, which is on the verge of becoming a lengthy chieftaincy dispute.
Contrary to national interest
Rev. Adu-Gyamfi, who is also the executive president of the Ghana Baptist Convention and chancellor of the Ghana Baptist University College, revealed that his organization had obtained several videos of political actors, particularly from the two main parties, threatening violence in speeches. He noted that such threats were not in the best interests of the nation and that everyone should condemn them in order to preserve the peace and stability of the nation.
He said that some remarks made by a political figure that encouraged violence had astonished the council.
That was in spite of discussions the council had recently conducted with leaders of political parties, warning them to refrain from saying anything that would cause the country to become unstable.
Having a meeting with the party leaders
The political party leaders in the conference, according to Rev. Dr. Adu Gyamfi, decided to talk politely in public. He questioned whether or not the leaders were telling their party members to speak politely as well.
"We have a variety of videos. People have spoken to us.
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