Kumasi, Jan. 5, GNA - Reverend Otuo Acheampong, Chairperson of the Asante Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, has urged the President-Elect Professor John Evans Atta-Mills to strive to continue with the development projects initiated by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government for the sake of posterity.

He also urged the in-coming National Democratic Congress (NDC) government to work hard to reconcile the nation and avoid intimidation of perceived political opponents to foster social cohesion and national unity.

Rev. Acheampong was speaking to the Ghana News Agency in Kumasi on Sunday.

He said the maturity demonstrated by Ghanaians in the recent polls had helped to raise the nation's image on the African continent and international community.

Rev. Acheampong tasked community leaders to endeavour to consolidate the gains made by impressing upon the youth to shun violence and to tolerate divergent views.

He expressed the hope that the coming weeks would witness a fair, transparent, peaceful and successful transition of power from the NPP to NDC to further deepen the nation's democratic dispensation. This, according to Rev. Acheampong, was crucial to forestall negative political occurrences as happened in countries like Kenya, Zimbabwe, La Cote D'Ivoire and Guinea in recent times which had brought untold hardships and sufferings to the people in those areas with its negative effects on the world at large. The Chairperson underscored the need for the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) to step up public education to enable them to become conscious of their civic and social responsibilities to increase productivity in all sectors of the economy.