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Most Reverend Philip Naameh
The Ghana Catholic Bishops Conference (GCBC) has called on the leaders of Ghana’s main political parties and their supporters to exercise restraint and avoid all forms of violence following the declaration of the election results by the Electoral Commission.
The GCBC, in a statement issued on Wednesday and signed by its president, the Most Reverend Philip Naameh, called on all political parties that have problems with the election results to resort to legitimate redress procedures.
The statement also expressed concern about the loss of life and injuries during the elections despite what it described as “the successful and peaceful conduct of the elections.”
“Despite the successful and peaceful conduct of the elections, we have also noted with concern the loss of life and injuries suffered by some people in constituencies such as Awutu Senya East, Odododiodio, Ablekuma Central, Bono East and Savelugu,” the statement said. .
“We wish to call on the leaders of the two main political parties and their supporters to act with restraint and avoid all forms of violence after the declaration of the presidential and parliamentary results by the Electoral Commission.”
Appeal to the Electoral Commission
The GCBC further urged the Electoral Commission to continue to involve all political parties to ensure that all pending electoral issues and complaints are resolved in the interest of the country.
He also asked the security agencies to be very professional in the exercise of their functions after the declaration of presidential and parliamentary results in order to protect lives and property.
It will be recalled that Ghana went to the polls on December 7 and the current president Nana Akufo-Addo of the New Patriotic Party (PNP) was declared the winner of the presidential elections with 51.3 percent of the vote.
Former opposition president John Dramani Mahama of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) won 47.3 percent of the vote, but did not admit defeat, calling the results “fraudulent.”
Read the full statement below:
CALL FOR CALM FROM THE GHANA CONFERENCE OF CATHOLIC BISHOPS
We, the members of the Ghana Catholic Bishops Conference (GCBC) wish to congratulate all Ghanaians for the peaceful manner in which we conducted ourselves in the December 7 elections. We also wish to congratulate all the candidates for offering to serve Ghana.
Despite the successful and peaceful development of the elections, we have also noted with concern the loss of life and injuries suffered by some people in electoral districts such as Awutu Senya East, Odododiodio, Ablekuma Central, Bono East and Savelugu
We wish to call on the leaders of the two main political parties and their supporters to exercise restraint and avoid all forms of violence following the declaration of the presidential and parliamentary results by the Electoral Commission. Having monitored recent developments on the political scene following the declaration of the results, we would like to humbly appeal to all who have problems with the results to kindly address these problems through legitimate redress procedures.
We also wish to urge the Electoral Commission to continue to involve all political parties to ensure that all pending electoral issues and complaints are addressed in the interest of the country.
Aware that in every competition there are sure to be winners and losers, we wish to urge all stakeholders to demonstrate maturity by accepting both defeat and victory.
In this way, reactions to either condition would be measured modestly and charitably against each other.
Finally, we wish to call on the security agencies to be very professional in the exercise of their functions after the declaration of the presidential and parliamentary results in order to protect lives and property.
Let us always be mindful of the fact that Ghana is all we have as a homeland and therefore let us work to maintain the peace and stability that we have always enjoyed as a nation.
God bless our homeland Ghana and make our nation great and strong!
MOST REV, PHILIP NAAMEH METROPOLITAN ARCHBISHOP OF TAMALE AND PRESIDENT, GHANA CONFERENCE OF CATHOLIC BISHOPS
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2020
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