PEACE MUST BE OUR BUSINESS

Page 7: Daily Graphic, April 27, 2012 IT has become very common for all well-meaning Ghanaians to appeal for calm on the political landscape during the run-up to the December 2012 general election. However, the signals on the ground tend to portend danger ahead because of the skirmishes associated with the biometric voters registration exercise. But we should not allow some politicians and other troublemakers to take the peace and stability of the country for granted. The Daily Graphic, for its part, will continue to remind the good people of Ghana of the need to maintain the peace in order to reap the democratic dividends. Maybe, some elements are tired of our insisting on the fact that we need to keep the peace and unity of the country to be the toast of the rest of the world. We share in the belief that public opinion can only be effective if it is sustained. We shall, therefore, devote this column to the crusade to get majority of Ghanaians to sign onto the peace campaign. We invite all Ghanaians of goodwill to leave nothing to chance by also holding those who seek our mandate to govern to rein in their supporters who have the penchant to breach the peace. It is in this vein that the Daily Graphic agrees with the call by the Okyenhene, Osagyefuo Amoatia Ofori Panin, to Ghanaians not to follow politicians blindly. We need not forget that in the event of any conflict or violence, these politicians, together with their families, will be the first to fly out of the country. Elections afford the electorate the opportunity to elect their leaders. What is needed is level-headedness in deciding who offers the best opportunities for the citizenry. No group of persons should be allowed to use violence to impose themselves on us. The Daily Graphic believes that we can do this by subscribing to the Ghana Peace Campaign 2012, not just be in words but also back our words with action. We cannot deny that most of the people preaching violence worship one form of God or another and that none of those religious denominations advocate violence in their day-to-day activities. And if the God we serve abhors violence, why do we allow the inordinate desire for political power to lead us to preach and perpetrate violence on our fellow citizens? We need not forget that most of the conflicts in the sub-region and other areas emanated from negative tendencies such as intolerance and hate speeches. Ghana is all we know and have as a country. We must, therefore, jealously work hard to safeguard its peace before, during and after the 2012 general election. The Daily Graphic, therefore, reiterates its commitment to peace in Ghana by joining the Ghana Peace Campaign 2012 to say: “Peace Now, Everybody’s Business”.