The National Democratic Congress (NDC) has announced its decision not to participate in the signing of a peace declaration ahead of the December 7 polls.
According to the party’s National Chairman, Johnson Asiedu Nketia, “Signing a peace declaration doesn’t mean anything to the party, as previous pacts have not yielded any real results.”
Speaking on JoyNews, Mr. Nketia emphasized the need for proactive measures to prevent violence rather than relying on symbolic gestures.
“If you allow violence to brew, it will happen whether you sign a declaration or not. That’s why, more than a year ago, I started talking about the need to remove the building blocks for a violent election,” he explained.
He criticized the focus on signing peace agreements after tensions have escalated and urged authorities to address the root causes of potential violence.
“At any stage when something is happening, I call on those who, in the future, will call us to sign a declaration to speak up and stop it from happening. Otherwise, if you let these issues build up and then say, ‘Let’s play a peace football match, sign a declaration, and hope for a peaceful election,’ it won’t work. We did all this and more in 2020,” he said.
Mr. Nketia noted that previous peace declarations, despite involvement from bodies like the Council of State and the Peace Council, failed to prevent violence in the 2020 election. “Signing or not signing is not the issue. What we need to address are the building blocks that lead to violence,” he insisted.
He also expressed concerns about the alleged recruitment of approximately 10,000 individuals into the security services, warning of potential unrest. “It’s brewing now,” he added.