Kathleen Addy, the Chairperson of the National Commission on Civic Education (NCCE), is calling for a peaceful election in 2024, saying the country is not ready to lose any life.
Speaking on the activities of the Commission ahead of the elections, she indicated that there is a lot to be done in terms of educating the public to appreciate that exercising their franchise is a right, amongst others.
“So it’s a very busy year for us and we’ve been all over the place, running around and we are looking forward to a successful election as we normally do,” she said on Hot Issues on TV3 Sunday, September 15, 2024.
Among its role, the NCCE boss noted, was to ensure no lives are lost because of the polls.
“We are looking forward to an election without bloodshed. We’re looking forward to an election that doesn’t require anybody to die, for anybody to come into power. And those are the things that we are working towards.”
According to her, the mechanisms the Commission has put in place over the years have helped, considering the issues that have arise at the electoral processes so far, with the few by-elections also in the equation.
She expressed hope that everyone, especially the youth, would value their lives and not trade it for any politician to gain power.
“Over the years, the mechanisms that have been put in have helped and they will continue to help. That’s not to say that we are all clear. I mean, we can see from the skirmishes from [the] recent by-elections, even the electoral process of going to register, going through the voter registration exercise, voter exhibition, all the skirmishes that come out of that give an indication that all the talk is not for nothing, hopefully the mechanisms will work.
“And this year, one of the things we are really pushing, we push it every year, but we’re pushing very hard, is that Ghanaians have to understand, especially young people, that going to give up your life or shed blood for a political party to come into power. It’s a fruitless venture. It’s a completely fruitless venture. We are hammering it down. Do not allow yourself to be used for this,” she reemphasised.
Meanwhile, Madam Addy advised that the nation becomes wary of external factors as a threat to Ghana’s democracy due to activities of violent extremists.
