The flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Dramani Mahama, has cautioned that commitments to peace ahead of the 2024 elections risk being rendered meaningless without sincerity and trust among stakeholders.
Speaking on the importance of peace-building at the signing of the peace pact event, Mr Mahama expressed concerns about the practical impact of signing peace agreements.
He stressed that such pacts, though well-intentioned, could fail without concrete actions to ensure lasting peace.
“There is reason to be concerned that the signing of this pact though well-intentioned, could amount to nothing if not followed by concrete actions to guarantee the peace by the stakeholders and government,” he stated on Thursday, November 28.
Mr Mahama highlighted the gap between declarations of peace and actions that undermine them, particularly by those in authority.
“It is all well and good for us to commit to peace and recite beautiful platitudes. However, all efforts to build peace before, during, and after the 2024 elections would be futile if mistrust and insincerity persist. Mistrust arises when there is a disconnect between words and actions, compounded by gaslighting from those in authority,” he added.
According to him, events and happenings during the last election in 2020 and the Ayawaso West Wuogon by-election create considerable doubts about the genuineness of some of the commitments to be made.
“We all recall the appalling spectacle of masked men acting on the orders of operatives of the government, shooting indiscriminately at innocent Ghanaians going about their legitimate electoral activity during that by-election. Some of the victims of that shooting incident remain incapacitated till now.
He added that the refusal by the government to act on the recommendations of the Emile Short Commission does not inspire confidence in Ghanaians that the government truly believes in peace.
He went on to say that “the inaction of the government to in the face of the murder of the eight of our citizens during the last election cast a shadow of doubt on government commitment to maintain the peace. How are we to believe that such killings would not reoccur?” he asked.
