The National Peace Council (NPC) has called on citizens both home and abroad to jealously guard the democratic gains that Ghana has accrued over the years.

Maulvi Mohammed Bin Salih, a Board Member of the NPC said Ghana was a shining example when it comes to democracy and stability.

Maulvi Bin Salih was speaking at a commemorative event to celebrate the International Day of Peace on the theme: “Shaping Peace Together-The Role of the Youth in Peace Building.”

The event was organised by the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) in collaboration with the NPC and Women is the Centre.

The International Day of Peace was established in 1981 by the United Nations General Assembly and is observed around the world on 21 September.

He encouraged every citizen and institution in the country to remain committed to Ghana's quest to sustain its well-earned credentials of holding successful, inclusive, credible and peaceful elections.

He said this year's Day of Peace was even more special as “we are preparing for elections in December and the message is simple, let us shape peace together.”

He said in view of these unpalatable realities, the NPC and partners appealed to citizens, both home and abroad to get involved in the struggle to sustain the peace in Ghana, and to see the sustenance of peace in the country as an important vehicle for development.

He applauded the media, civil society organizations, political parties and citizens, whose watchdog responsibilities have contributed immensely towards the enhancement of citizen’s access to information and knowledge about the Voters' Registration Exercise.

“We in like manner applaud the exhibited democratic responsibilities which all stakeholders contributed to enhance the credibility of the registration exercise,” he added.

He said the Council has noted some bottlenecks that confronted a few of the Registration Centres during the registration and strongly condemned all incidences of confusion, violence, and shooting, which characterized the Voters Registration at some Centres.

Maulvi Bin Salih commended the media for the role they play in peacebuilding, urging the media to be circumspect in their reportage of actual or potential conflict situations because, information plays a vital role in conflict management and peacebuilding He said the passage of the Vigilantism and Related Offences Act, 2019 (Act 999) by the Parliament criminalizing political vigilantism was a welcome news.

He said the Peace Council has formed the National Monitoring Committee mandated to monitor the compliance to the Code of Conduct by the political parties and the full implementation of the recommendations in the Roadmap.

Additionally, he said the Peace Council has established partnerships with WANEP and CDD-Ghana to establish national and regional peace monitoring infrastructure for the forthcoming December 2020 Presidential and Parliamentary elections.

He called on the Inspector General of Police and the Ghana Police Service to rise up to the occasion as they usually do by arresting any persons, whose actions and inactions have potential to derail the peace of the country before, during and after the elections.

Mr Affail Monney, the President of GJA the country’s youthful age profile also explains the persky strategy of politician, who were on the prowls to amass votes for the December 7 elections to target the youth with their mouthwatering promises.

He said “that is no problem, what is problematic, however, is the poisonous content and criminal intent of some of the messages which incite the youth to take to violence.”

He, therefore, called on the youth never to mortgage their precious lives nor sacrifices their promising future on the alter of violence.

“Allow people, who beat the drumbeat of violence to dance to their own time,” he added.

Mr Daniel Mckorley, the Chief Executive Officer, McDan Group of Companies said “I do not want to disturb the peace of the country, because Ghana has a great future.”

He said the youth should stand against the careless statements from politicians and journalists.

He said if the youth come together to condemn the journalists and the politicians for their selfish gains and interest and with one accord ‘we move forward as the youth, we have the future and cannot sit for our country to be destroy.”

He said Ghana was about to explore with wealth and prosperity and ‘why do we want to get the country into conflict at this time.’

“With patient, the right attitude and the consistency among the youth the future is their limit,” he added.