Hundreds of concerned women on Thursday November 17, 2016 hit the streets of the Northern Regional capital Tamale clamoring for peaceful elections.
They carried placards with peace messages such as “Different parties, one Ghana,” “Ballots not bullets,” “Ghanaian women want peace,” “Violence in Africa not again” and “Women always want peace.”
A civil society organization known as the Women’s Situation Room Ghana (WSR) successfully organized the peace procession which attracted traders, students, hair dressers, seamstresses and youth groups.
They finally converged at the regional secretariats of the two major political parties, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and presented their petition.
The petition signed by the Women’s Situation Room Ghana national Coordinator, Miss Adwoa Bame impressed upon President John Dramani Mahama of the NDC and his main contender, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo of the NPP to reaffirm their commitment to ensure peaceful elections before, during and after the December 7 elections.
“As women we suffer most with our children when there is violence and will not look on as the security of our beloved country is compromised in the name of politics.”
“We are here to reiterate the call for peaceful elections. As women, we are gathered here today to call on your executives and supporters to do all in their power to remain calm and resolute as the Election Day unfolds.”
Miss Adwoa Bame insisted that the nation’s peace and stability sustenance remained the responsibility of the NDC and the NPP.
“Development cannot take place in the midst of conflict and violence and we the women of Ghana trust that the NDC and the NPP as political parties will ensure that there is peaceful elections so that the country will continue to shine in the sub region.”
“We the women of Ghana call on the NDC and the NPP parties and their leadership to contribute to peace by respecting the electoral processes and accepting the outcome after the polls,” she underscored.
“His Excellency President John Dramani Mahama and members of the NDC party and Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo and members of the NPP party, the motto of the WSR-Ghana is Peace is in our hands and so we say to you all that the peace of Ghana is in your hands. Let us all commit to peaceful processes before, during and after December 7.”
According to Miss Adwoa Bame, the WSR-Ghana is a women’s peace building mechanism that mitigates conflict before, during and after elections.
She added that it is a non partisan organization that mobilizes women in collaboration with youth to engage stakeholders support the women’s call for peaceful elections as a peace and security measure in accordance with the UNSCR 1325.
Some of the participants decried the political upheavals witnessed especially in Northern Region in the past and called for paradigm shift.
They recalled the deadly political conflicts in Sierra Leone, Cote D’I Voire and Rwanda and pleaded with the major actors in the 2016 elections to be tolerant of divergent views.
They commended the Women’s Situation Room, Ghana for organizing the event and advocated its sustainability in the run up to the December 7 polls.
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(Via: CitiFM Online Ghana)
