National Commission For Civic Education in Talensi Holds IPDC Meeting Phase 11.

By – By Raymond Batasia Wegwi

National Commission For Civic Education in Talensi Holds IPDC Meeting Phase 2
The National Commission For Civic Education ,(NCCE) in Talensi District of the Upper East Region has held its phase 2 of the Inter-party Dialogue Committee (IPDC) Meeting in Tongo on ‘Preventing and Containing Violent Extremism ‘ focusing on the critical themes of peace, tolerance, and the urgent need to confront the challenges of violent exstremism and vigilantism in Ghana. The Commission has been organizing these commendable IPDC Meetings on peace, tolerance and countering violence extremism at the district levels, under the auspices of the EU-sponsored PCVE, Action in the Northern Regions of Ghana program .
The Talensi District Director of NCCE, Madam Dorcas Atia, in her welcome address, said the upcoming 2024 general elections not only present an opportunity for Democratic expression but also pose significant risks that we must strategically address at this pivotal movement and by addressing the critical topics on focus areas of money in politics (especially vote buying), mis/disinformation (combating fake news), electoral violence and by promoting ethnic and religious tolerance,we are taking significant steps towards fortifying our democracy and safeguarding our electoral processes
According to Madam Dorcas Atia, the alarming trend of vote buying undermines the integrity of our electoral process, and we must work together to cultivate a political culture that prioritizes integrity over illicit financial gains and also confront the scourge of mis and disinformation that is sweeping through our society like wildfire because, fake news not only distorts public opinion but also erodes trust within our communities and we all must make it our collective responsibility to ensure that the narrative we promote hold true to the values of the democracy. On the issue of electoral violence, she admonished Ghanaians not to overlook the unfortunate reality adding that violence has no place in a democratic society, and it is our duty to ensure that the upcoming elections are conducted in an atmosphere of peace and safety. Ghana been a tapestry of diverse cultures and beliefs, the NCCE director said it is imperative that we honor this rich diversity by promoting dialogue, understanding and respect among all citizens for religious and ethnic tolerance.
Apart from these things, she called for all stakeholders involvement in the commission’s theme of “Together We Can Build Ghana” activities in combating the menaces of violent exstremism and terrorism not just for the 2024 elections,but for the years to come . According to Dorcas Atia, Ghana’s track record of successful eight (8) times general elections and, characterized by four (4) peaceful transition of power, in a testament to our commitment to upholding the principles of democracy, rule of law and media freedom, however we must remain vigilant in face of evolving threats that seek to undermine our democratic institutions and processes.
The Talensi District Police Commander, ASP Saeed Boachie, who took the participants through the Acts of vote buying such as offering of money, materials, refreshments,T &T , transportation of voters etc by the politicians are all inducements for votes especially the timing of those gifts and these are driven by supply and demand factors been that the suppliers who are the contestants will continue to do it because it works for them and the demand side is the poor and the vulnerable voters who are also ready to sell their votes and the effects on democracy and developments are ; deprivation of political and economic equality, undeserving leaders (square pegs in round holds), limited attention to service delivery,interferes , with the rights of citizens to freely decides who represents them and their interest ,breeds corruption and characterized by intimidation leads to to political violence. ASP Saeed Boachie, therefore call NCCE, EC, NGOs to intensify their voters education on all forms of vote buying activities.
On the part misinformation, disinformation and fake news,he said misinformation is a wrong information which is given to some often in a deliberate attempt to make them believe something which is not true and disinformation is a false information which is intended to mislead, especially propaganda issued by a government to viral power vice versa, or the media however fake news or stories are made to support certain agendas and all these sources are from the political actors, social media and individuals/organizations. The commander said the effects all of these are that,it brings political tension, indiscipline especially among children and many others asked the general public to always verify every information before sharing and desist from always trying to get to each other at all costs to foster peace and unity.
The Talensi District Director of Electoral Commission, Mr Jonas M. Mustapha who educated the people on the activities of the commission assured Ghanaians that, the will conduct the 2024 elections free,fair and transparent adding that every stage the move to all the political parties and the security are involved and appeals to the stakeholders to support them especially by sharing the issues discussed at the meeting with those who are not present and always verify whatever information they are sharing before to avoid causing fear and panic .
The Chairman of the occation who is also the Chief of Gaare, Naab Mwarebilsong Naneeteng, expressed his gratitude to NCCE for their commendable initiative in the organization of IPDC Meetings in the district, and called them to scale it up for all the community members to get the information to stop vote buying as he observed that, some party activists will get to their rallies late and what the asked their members is always how much the people brought, but not the message. On behalf of the chiefs, he took the opportunity to appeal to the politicians, that whenever they are coming to their communities to campaign, to at least notify the chiefs not to be dealing with their party’s agents alone to foster peace and unity. The NCCE IPDC phase 2 Meeting was attended by representatives of all the political parties in Talensi, Chiefs, religious leaders, EC, Security,and other stakeholders and during the open forum the people were given opportunity to speak and those who raised issues , were address by the resource persons.

Source – gbcuraonline.com