The National Peace Council (NPC) has asked the political parties and their supporters to be mindful of their activities as preparations towards the 2016 polls gathered momentum.

A press statement issued and signed by Professor S.O. Asiama, its Ashanti Regional Chairman, reminded them that their actions and omissions today “will largely determine the conditions we will find ourselves in during and after the elections”.

This was why everybody must be cautious in expressing their grievances and displeasures when issues of national interest were concerned, it added.

It counseled that protests should be held peacefully and lawfully to prevent any ugly incident of violence.

The statement coincided with the celebration of the “World Peace Day”, marked on September 21, every year.

The Council expressed confidence that all would act responsibly and play their expected roles effectively to “ensure that 2016 will come and pass and Ghana will continue to be the bastion of peace that we have grown to know”.

It again urged journalists to be more circumspect in the performance of their duties to save the nation from needless tension and confusion.

The statement reminded them that “the exercise of the democratic ideal of free speech comes with responsibility to ensure that we do not inflame passions” to the detriment of the society.

The media as a potent force in the democratic dispensation must accept to uphold professional ethics to sustain and deepen the nation’s peace.