NDC will not sign peace declaration ahead of election

The National Chairman of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Johnson Asiedu Nketia, has declared that the party will not be signing any peace declaration ahead of the 2024 election.

Speaking on Joy News’ PM Express, he expressed scepticism about the effectiveness of such agreements, citing past experiences.

“Signing a peace declaration doesn’t mean anything to the party, as previous pacts have not yielded any real results,” Asiedu Nketia stated.

He stated that preventing violence requires proactive measures rather than symbolic gestures.

“If you allow violence to brew, it will happen whether you sign a declaration or not. That’s why, more than a year ago, I started talking about the need to remove the building blocks for a violent election,” he explained.

He further criticised the focus on signing peace agreements after tensions have already escalated, urging authorities to address the root causes of potential violence before it spirals out of control.

“At any stage when something is happening, I call on those who, in the future, will call us to sign a declaration to speak up and stop it from happening.

“Otherwise, if you let these issues build up and then say, ‘Let’s play a peace football match, sign a declaration, and hope for a peaceful election,’ it won’t work. We did all this and more in 2020,” he said.

Mr Asiedu Nketia, affectionately known as General Mosquito, pointed out that despite the involvement of bodies like the Council of State and the Peace Council in previous peace declarations, the 2020 election was still marred by violence.

“Signing or not signing is not the issue. What we need to address are the building blocks that lead to violence,” he insisted.

He also highlighted concerns about the illegal recruitment of about 10,000 individuals into the security services, warning that this could be a brewing source of unrest.

“It’s brewing now,” he added.

In the 2020 election, the NDC protested the results, describing them as “flawed” and alleging that state security forces were used to intimidate voters in their strongholds.

The National Election Security Taskforce (NESTF) reported that five lives were lost during the 2020 general election, with 61 recorded cases of electoral and post-electoral violence across the country, including six incidents involving gunshots.

Source: myjoyonline