Founder and presidential candidate of the Progressive People’s Party Dr Papa Kwesi Nduom has urged students of the University of Cape Coast to note that voting is not a one day activity but four years’ with its consequences therefore advising them to make a proper choice.
The presidential hopeful was speaking at the University of Cape Coast (UCC) 53rd Student Representative Council (SRC) Celebration on Saturday, April 9, 2016 dubbed ‘2016 and Beyond, Educating and Ensuring a Peaceful Election Experience in Ghana’.
The newly elected SRC president of UCC Mr Dennis Nana Larbi Ampofo emphasized the role of the youth saying “…the role of the youth is paramount and elections cannot be successful without us” .
According to Dr Papa Kwesi Nduom, peace speaking should be a continuous work but not an electioneering year activity where trumpets are blew only before, during and shortly after general elections.
He said the Electoral Commission and law enforcement agencies should hold leaders of political parties and candidates directly and personally accountable for crimes committed by their supporters while advising the youth not to be used by politicians to break laws.
Dr Nduom admonished that the National Identification Authority should be the bedrock in the compilation of voters register for a peaceful and credible elections.
Advocating for peaceful and credible elections, he figured the National Identification Authority to be mandated in determining the eligibility of voters but not the EC.
Adding that ‘…if we want to avoid violence of any type, the one place we must resource is the national identification authority, so that all of us will have a unique national identification number that stays with us from the time we are until the day we die.’ to avoid personation during voting.
Dr Nsuom noted that some political parties only come to the limelight in electioneering years however; political parties are not only for elections but also for shaping policies of economy, society and peace among others.
He said the 1992 constitution of the republic of Ghana restricts political parties from foreign aids so it is prudent for the nation to probe the source of funding for some political parties.
The politician is calling for the polling agents structure be abolished which he said is a primitive practice that ignites violence through intimations at polling stations.
The EC should enforce political parties’ law fully with independence by withdrawing the license of all political parties that do not satisfy the requirements according to him.
Ghana according to the politician and entrepreneur losses at least 1 billion dollars to corruption but he reiterated that when voted into power, he will appoint an independent prosecutor to probe the administrations that have managed the affairs of the nation in since 4th republic of which he was once a minister.
He therefore advised the youth to make a better choice during voting, saying ‘…the elections of members of parliament and president is not a one day process, it is a four year process with consequences for all of the people…’
He donated three thousand Ghana cedi (3, 000) to the SRC for the celebration.
Spencer Kwabena Boateng Mensah, UCC
