The Tema District of the Assemblies of God (AG) church has organized a peace and prayer forum for the stability of Ghana.

The gathering was also used to educate the Christian community and members of the Tema Metropolis on the need to ensure collective peace and security through their actions during the General Elections.

Speaking to the gathering on Sunday at the Central Assemblies of God church, Tema Community Four, the General Secretary of AG, Ghana, Rev. Dr. Kwame Bansah, said, a lot of uncertainties surround Ghanaian elections which put fear in people hence the need to preach peace and assure Ghanaians of a peaceful election outcome.

“And even during the registration period we heard of issues, so if registration can bring about violence, the ordinary person could be scared about the main elections. We should therefore remind ourselves of the need to do things right during this period,” Dr. Bansah asked.

In that light, Rev. Dr. Bansah asserted that the political parties still had vigilante groups who might be operating underground even though there was an anti vigilante law, it was development which must be checked because it was a recipe for violence.

He observed that, “African countries in particular are prone to violence when it comes to elections, so this is the reason why we need to remind ourselves to behave well and remain the beacon of peace we are known for here in the sub-region.”

The Cleric reminded the Church to be peace makers as God instructed and educate church members on the need to maintain peace which was necessary for national development.

He also advised men of God to desist from calling elections by saying, “We all pray, we all have one vision or another; no one should try to superimpose his or her vision on the rest of us, but that we should leave the electoral commission to do their work as we are all stay vigilant to ensure the right things are done at the polling stations.

“Election is not war; election is just a simple process of choosing who to lead us in the next four years, so we don’t have to make the whole thing look like a-do-and-die affair.”

He advised members of political parties to tolerate each other since Ghana was bigger than everybody “and the fact that a ruling government could become opposition and the opposition become the ruling government.

“We are the same people. We are intermarried in many ways. All political parties in Ghana today have people from all ethnic backgrounds and all religious persuasions. So we are the same people contesting for leadership. So there is the need for patience, tolerance and trust one another and the systems we have put in place.”

Rev. Samuel Cofie, Tema District Pastor, AG observed that, “As a church, we have decided to organize this peace forum to tell the people of this country that, election is not about causing violence and mayhem or speaking provocative or derogatory words, but it’s about demonstrating the attitude of peace in the environment of peace.

“And who are the initiators and promoters of peace? We are the people who are supposed to promote peace where ever we are located, irrespective of our language and background.

Ghana is blessed and we don’t have to take the peace we are enjoying for granted because peace is one of the most expensive commodities God has blessed us with and we have to preserve it, else, we will destroy our development, stability and growth of this country.

The Metropolitan Chief Executive (MCE) of Tema, Mr. Felix Mensah Nii Annang-La, expressed joy for the role the church was playing in leading the campaign for peace during the 2020 General Elections.

The MCE appealed to the youth not to allow themselves to be used to perpetrate violence but make themselves ambassadors of peace during the elections.