The General Manager of News Papers at the Graphic
Communications Group Limited, Mr. Yaw Boadu-Ayeboafoh has entreated
political parties and their supporters to be tolerant and show
maturity in their respective political discourses as the country
prepares to go to the polls next month.
He equally pointed out that “Ghanaians in general have a
collective responsibility to ensure that the country remained
peaceful before, during and after the 2012 general
elections”.
Speaking at a Town Hall Meeting organised
by the GCGL for various political parties in Tamale on Thursday,
Mr. Ayeboafoh
cautioned that “you do not have to kill yourselves because one
party or the other has not won the elections”.
According to him, in advanced democracies like the United
States of America, the victory of President Barack Obama in the US
polls is seen as a victory for Americans.
“I would therefore wish to appeal to the various political
parties to ensure that their supporters particularly in the various
constituencies understand that victory for one party is
victory
for all”.
“We must together as Ghanaians rally behind who
ever emerges as the choice of the electorate until one is
given the opportunity again to elect his or her choice”, the GM
observed.
The beauty of democracy, he said was to listen to statements
expressing divergent views although one might not agree with those
statements.
Mr. Ayeboafoh
stated that the objective of the meeting was to find out the
commitment of
the political parties first towards a peaceful elections
and then secondly to gauge their level of commitment towards the
political parties’ code of conduct.
This, he said was to encourage peace at both the regional and
national levels.
“We therefore wish that as representatives of political
parties you would factor in your commitment to peaceful elections
in all your political discourses” he further stated.
He also explained that holding of such meetings was in
response to some complaints by
some political parties to the effect that they were not being
offered adequate coverage on their various political
activities.
He intimated that as a step towards making up the shortfall
in covering political party activities, the company decided to
attach reporters and cameramen to the Presidential Candidates of
some political parties.
“Even if we recruit a good number of reporters we still
cannot cover every candidate across the length and breadth of the
country” he noted.
In a speech read on his behalf, the Northern Regional
Minister, Mr Moses Mabengba commended residents of Tamale for the
manner in which they conducted themselves during the recent
Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) debate in the
Metropolis.
He entreated residents to continue to promote peace in the
run-up to the elections.
The minister equally commended the GCGL for introducing the
programme
and noted that such a step only showed that the company was a
pacesetter in contributing to the country’s democratic
dispensation.
Mr. Mabengba
noted with keen interest that the good reputation built by the
company over the years was not by chance but borne out of the
quality managerial
practices and journalistic standards that the company continue to
uphold.
The Northern Regional Director of the National Commission
foe
Civic Education (NCCE), Alhaji Abdul Razak Saani, one of the
participants in an interview, commended the GCGL for the
programme
as it gave the opportunity to the local people to be part of the
wider national political activities.
He urged other media houses to emulate the gesture but
suggested to the management of the GCGL to organize similar
programmes
for the local communities in the various
constituencies.
The Meeting was on theme “Projecting the key issues for a
peaceful election 2012”. It is a regional platform for the
discussion of key issues that matter to the people in the December
elections.
Representatives for
five political parties, the Convention People’s Party
(CPP),the
People’s National Convention(PNC),the
New Patriotic Party(NPP),the
National Democratic Congress(NDC)
and the Progressive People’s Party(PPP)
attended the Meeting.
It was also attended by participants from civil society
groups, the NCCE and the assemblies.
