By Yussif Ibrahim, GNA
Kumasi, Oct. 23, GNA-The Ashanti Regional Directorate of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) is stepping up public education against political violence ahead of the 2020 elections.
A team of officials from the directorate are visiting various suburbs in the Kumasi Metropolis to educate the citizenry on the importance of violent-free election.
Led by the Deputy Regional Director of NCCE, Madam Akua Zakaria, the team visited places such as Asem, Bompata, Dunkirk and Roman Hill.
They visited shops, lorry stations, markets and other public places, where people converge for business activities to sensitise them on peace and other election related issues.
Madam Zakaria said multi-party democracy had come to stay in Ghana and that the 1992 Constitution guaranteed every citizen the right to join any political party of their choice.
She said just us the citizenry had the right to join any association, they also had the responsibility to respect the decisions of others as enshrined in the Constitution.
“As individuals we all have our preferences so it is only natural for us to join different political parties and that should not make us enemies”, she pointed out.
She said it was important for Ghanaians to be tolerant to opposing views and objectively discuss political ideologies without violence.
This, she indicated, was the way to go to build a strong and resilient democracy for the present and future generations.
She entreated the people to desist from any act that could trigger violence even when they had genuine concerns but rather resort to appropriate channels to seek redress.
She said it was illegal to deface posters of political opponents and urged the public to desist from the practice to avoid unnecessary confrontations.
Some members of the public raised concerns about the huge number of spoilt ballots during elections and urged the NCCE to educate the electorate on the proper way to cast their ballots.
