The National Peace Council has expressed concern over the increase in incendiary comments made by politicians and has announced plans to engage with political parties and security agencies to address the issue.
The Council issued a statement following comments made by Abetifi Member of Parliament, Bryan Acheampong, suggesting that the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) would not relinquish power to the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) and would do everything possible to remain in power.
Rev. Dr. Ernest Adu-Gyamfi, Chairman of the Peace Council, has thus called on politicians to exercise restraint in their comments ahead of the 2024 general elections.
In an interview with Citi News, he said, "We've received some footage by several political actors from both the NDC and the NPP that we think need to be addressed, and we want to appeal to the political actors to be careful and guard what they say and how they say it.
"Our intention is to invite the parties to the table to review the things we discussed and see the challenges that we have now and see what we can do going forward."
Dr. Adu-Gyamfi also revealed that the Council has scheduled a meeting with security agencies next month to address potential conflict issues.
He emphasized that these meetings would be continuous, adding, "We've also scheduled a meeting with the security agencies which will be coming on next month to look at the things that we need to address between now and the next elections."
Regarding the Abetifi lawmaker's comments, Dr. Adu-Gyamfi stated that if someone makes a criminal statement, the responsibility falls on the security agencies to take appropriate action.
The Council's intervention comes amid growing concerns over the potential for violence in the lead-up to the 2024 general elections.
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