By Joe Kingsley Eyiah, Toronto-Canada

Today, Sunday, December 7, 2008 Ghanaians go to the polls to elect a new President and a new Parliament. This is the fourth Parliament under the Fourth Republic and Ghanaians are very proud of this humble achievement that seems to be rare on the continent of Africa. We are also grateful to God for His provision of peace and stability since the last days of military rule in Ghana in 1992.

This election following immediately after the historic US Presidential Election just last month, which brought the First African American President-elect, Barack Obama and the much needed change in politics to the United States of America, puts an onus task on Ghanaian voters to rise above ethnicity and even party affiliations to select a new President and a new Parliament that will serve the interest of Ghana as one nation with one people. This calls relevance! Success is the reward for relevance. Irrelevance, on the other hand, is the “funeral dirge” of any organization or nation.

Political campaigns by parties contesting this election, especially those of the ruling National Patriotic Party (NPP) and the main opposition party, the National Democratic Congress could be described as acrimonious and unhealthy with each party being at the others throat. Such vigorous attacks are not absent in any keenly contested political election anywhere in the world. However, PEACE eventually prevails wherever there is FREE and FAIR elections. It is in this vein that I add my voice to all good-willing people calling for free, fair and peaceful elections in Ghana today.

Though some of us are away from our motherland and unfortunately have no opportunity to exercise our franchise in today’s election, our hearts are all with Ghanaian voters who go to the polls today. We are praying for PEACE in this important event in Ghana. I have personally followed the preparations made towards today’s election and I am confident (based on reports from Ghana) that the National Electoral Commission has prepared a fair ground for all the contesting candidates in this election. This coupled with freedom of choice that would be ensured by the forces that be and critically observed by the International Observers who have come to Ghana for today’s election would bring post election peace to Ghana. Post election violence in some African countries such as Cote d’ Vior, Congo, Kenya, Zimbabwe and Nigeria (Jos area) to mention a few, could be described as unfortunate and unacceptable. Ghanaians ought to live above such post election violence and prove to the whole world that we are democratically matured as the “Political School Prefect” of Africa. Let there be free, fair and peaceful elections in Ghana today. May the best candidates win the Presidential and Parliamentary elections!

GOD BLESS OUR HOMELAND GHANA.