ELECTION 2016 PEACE MESSAGE

TOPIC: ELECTION 2016 PEACE MESSAGE

MEDIA HOUSE: LOVE FM Kumasi

DATE:10-11-2016

David: Reverend good morning and thank you very much for your time

Rev. Dr. Opuni-Frimpong: Good morning David and let me say good morning to your cherished listeners

David: Kumasi misses you and we wonder when you will pay us a visit.

Rev. Dr. Opuni-Frimpong: One of these days I will be on my way.

David: Okay we will be glad to hold you in our studios bur good message – peace message that you sent to us yesterday and we have 26 more days to go for this year’s election and a lot of things have happened; court issues, cases here and there and all that. First of all how would you say that we have handled this whole thing?

Rev. Dr. Opuni-Frimpong:David let me thank you for the opportunity. Let me say that but for the time factor what we have witnessed the recent days and weeks would have been the excellent we need as a country that people have challenges and they will not take the law into their own hands but they will use due process to address them; is good for our democracy but the real challenge is the time because attention should have been given to discussions on manifestoes of the various political parties. We should have been given education on ballot paper and how people should handle them to avoid the rejected ballot papers that we always witness and I think this is what we are missing but that the various parties are going to court using due process, we must congratulate them, congratulate the EC especially the Chief Justice and her team that the promise they gave us that they will be fast and swift on court cases, we are witnessing the evidence. But I think time is an issue in the whole process.

David:In your address you made mention of the fact that matters of cheating ought to be taken seriously and handled very well and you called on the EC to be firm and fair. Why this issue of cheating?

Rev. Dr. Opuni-Frimpong:You see David, one challenge confronting all the political parties – their members, people who are related to them have something to do with the fear of losing power; all of them not even the key front line like the MP’s, Presidential candidates but their spouses, children, family members, friends, staff and all of them. There’s a deep featured fear of losing power. Now some of them the way they want to manage that fear of losing power have something to do with playing the card of cheating and violence and I must say that all of them are prone to that. All of them if they get the opportunitythey will all cheat and demonstrate element of violence. That is why the cheating can take different forms – double voting, people trying to block others not to vote, making sure that they are not writing the right figures and all that. These are elements of cheating, violence, destroying other people’s posters and banners, fighting, snatching of ballot boxes, army people with weapons just to cause trouble and all that.

David: But Reverend don’t we have a robust system where it will be difficult to cheat, rig or double voting?

Rev. Dr. Opuni-Frimpong:No David, what is the essence of law if it is not enforced properly? You know we can have excellent in our books that if the police are not fair and firm and to all of them and given a signal that there’s no room for cheating and violence. The door is shut whether you belong to party A or party B that they don’t have favorite sons and daughters. We need that assurance again and again not only in words but in demonstration. EC must keep assuring us again and again. Issue of transparency across board; all of them. We need the media to be fair and firm and responsible so David that is what we are talking about that if we rely on the system then all of them would want to be violent and so the security agencies, the media – those who are reporting and those who are spreading information on social media must be responsible.

David:You called on the EC to be up and doing and you said they should be fair and firm and all that now looking at the posture of the EC instead at a point in time where the high court have even give some party people who were disqualified to be given the opportunity to correct their errors and get back into the election and all that will you say that the posture of the EC is being firm here and do you think that the posture of the EC is right?

Rev. Dr. Opuni-Frimpong:Now the challenge we have now is a matter of time. If this court issues have taken place in say April at the beginning of the year it would have been excellent. EC could have made the appeal and all that as long as people are going to court and the Supreme Court and the High Court are handling the issues lawfully and given justice to all; it could have been the excellent thing that if you are not happy with the EC don’t gather people, don’t go out down the street, don’t destroy, don’t burn tyres but go to court. But now I think the real problem about this court cases, appeal and all that is time; we have about less than 30 days to go for general elections and we must be hearing more conversations. Public discourse must be directed towards issues of the various manifestoes. Using your platform for instance to do public education, how we should vote and all that. I think that is what is missing else whatever posture the EC want to use as long as people are going for justice and fairness in the law court and now the court are also being strong and very firm given instructions to the EC that sorry you can’t do this, this is what is ought to be done to me is excelling for us as a country but time is still a challenge to at the moment.

David:Reverend you will agree with me that you have heard from the EC and they have given us a statement of assurance that this year’s election is going to be very free, fair and transparent. They have also told us that the result that will come out not party will even come out that they want to challenge it. Do you think that we should trust the EC that much based on this utterance going into this election so that they can really give us free and fair election?

Rev. Dr. Opuni-Frimpong:David, we are all in this game together. General election I must say is about the future and is all over and that is why as a country we shouldn’t fail ourselves and feel those who will come after us; and that is why nobody should use as an option – all of us and so we have heard the EC but we can’t go to bed and say that EC has said it so let’s go to bed and sleep and I don’t think we can do that. The political parties have assured as they will behave so let’s go to bed and sleep. Even the security agencies have given us their word, the media people they will behave so let’s go and sleep. No, we must all be very active participant in the process and make sure we demand accountability and performance. Every second, every minute till the whole process is over so yes we trust them but because we trust them we will want to make sure we are sitting at our side, we are watching themand we are holding them accountable by their own words so as for that one yes we have heard them and that is why we must be disciplined; operational workers and everybody must be vigilant.

David:Reverend in terms of the talking and advising what is the Christian Council itself doing; are you engaging the youth and people to comport themselves in the coming election?

Rev. Dr. Opuni-Frimpong:David not everything that we do at Christian Council that we go public to announce it. In fact we have already met with the chairperson of the Electoral Commision, we have met the IGP, we have met some Regional Police Commanders and we are going round the whole regions. I just returned from Tamale – spent the whole week. Ahsanti Region we’ve been there, Volta Region etc. This morning at 1pm I will be meeting one of the Presidential candidates. So many things are going on but there are certain things we do we don’t go out there giving press statement and all that.

David:So Reverend, are we on course for a peaceful election?

Rev. Dr. Opuni-Frimpong:Yes, at the moment am very optimistic that we are getting there but till the battle is over it is not over so we must do our job well. We were in Tamale last Thursday – a week today and we had the opportunity to meet some of the vigilante groups, the Bamba boys, the Aluta boys and it was exciting. All of them gave us their words that they won’t allow anybody to use them for violence. Now what we are witnessing from Supreme Court, meeting with the IGP, some Regional Commanders and the meetings we have held so far it is very encouraging, Traditional leaders and all that but we have a long way to go

David:Thank you very much Rev. Dr. Kwabena Opuni-Frimpong – General Secretary of the Christian Council. Thanks very much for making time to talk to us

Rev. Dr. Opuni-Frimpong:Thank you and have a nice day.

David:Have a nice day as well.