President Akufo-Addo has reiterated his assurance that the 2020 general elections will be conducted in a free and fair environment.

Speaking at the 62nd Independence Day anniversary in Tamale, the President said: “There’s no room and there should be no room for violence in this whole process. It should be a contest of ideas that seek to win the hearts and minds of the people.”

According to him, “success should be counted by how many young people go to school and get skills and jobs, not by how many young people can be marshalled to disrupt elections or how many broken bones we can count.”

The people of Ghana, he said “do not deserve to be toyed with in such a reckless manner” as the very concept of political violence is “offensive” and shames us all who are in politics.”

Expressing hope the impending dialogue between the two major political parties—the New Patriotic Party and the National Democratic Congress succeeds, he said: “I’ll spare no effort including the initiation of the relevant legislation to ensure that we rid our nation of politically related violence.”

President Akufo-Addo’s comments come barely a day after he denied claims from the National Democratic Congress (NDC) that he is recruiting “party thugs for the 2020 general elections.”

In an official response to a letter from the NDC national chairman Samuel Ofosu-Ampofu, he said: “No such directive has been given, nor will any such directive be given, and no such recruitment is taking place.”

The president said his achievements will speak for him and that will be the basis for winning the 2020 elections.