Dear Editor,

Today is December 7 and Ghanaians would be required to participate heavily in the presidential and parliamen­tary elections.

The aim is to give a new term to whichever party triumphs in the exercise.

Parties and their representatives have been busy in the buildup to today’s exercise with the two main political parties, ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) and National Democratic Con­gress (NDC) very confident of undoing each other.

Other political parties would also be involved in the exer­cise.

What I am calling for ahead of the exercise is peace. It is the responsibility of every Ghana to accept the fact that we have only one Ghana and maintaining the peace and tranquility we have enjoyed remains in our own hands.

The period to determine which group of people governs the nation is the same period for us to ensure that the peace we enjoy remains intact.

The campaigns have been very intensive with a few unfortu­nate comments coming from over enthusiastic politicians.

There also appears to be a mistrust in the system as every decision or move by the Electoral Commission have been fiercely questioned or rejected.

The Commission that is also supposed to be the ‘referee’ has not helped in the tension diffusion with the errors with election papers from particular regions.

All these notwithstanding, I wish to urge Ghanaians to have confidence in the institutions and vote in our numbers in a peaceful manner. No one should attempt to disrupt the pro­cess. If we go about it lawfully, we’ll have another peaceful and successful election. Yes, we can!

Mark Osae,

Accra

 The long-awaited presi­dential and parliamentary elections are finally here, and the most crucial thing we require is peace during and after the elections.

It is a must for Ghanaians to uphold peace, a state of tranquility devoid of conflict or disruption in this election.

In order to ensure free, fair, and transparent elections, a number of institutions and or­ganisations, including the Peace Council, the media, non-gov­ernmental organisations, and religious groups, have sent out messages of peace in the run-up to the polls.

The Spectator continues to spread the message of peace as we urge the electorate to make peace a priority in the electoral process to elect a President and Members of Parliament (MPs).

Every voter should be able to exercise their right to vote without any form of compul­sion, as Ghanaians are members of multiple political parties and are free to select the candidate of their choice.

After all, voting is about exercising your right to vote, which should be done quiet­ly and peacefully, not about insulting and fighting. We should therefore be mindful of the fact that Ghana belongs to all of us.

Remember your vote is se­cret and to prevent any con­frontation after exercising your franchise go home and pray. Do not post anything on social media that will cause people to react negatively.

Ghana has long been a peaceful nation and a symbol of democracy in Africa; we must preserve this stability and peace.

We must be careful with what we say to avoid provoking anger that could turn violent.

The Spectator urges the security agencies to be tolerant and professional as they dis­charge their duties. In the same vein, officials of the Electoral Commission should do effec­tive monitoring of the electoral process and swiftly provide the necessary logistics required to enable voting.

We urge all political parties and their supporters to adhere to the nation’s laws and regula­tions. The media should be cir­cumspect in their reportage and provide accurate and balanced reporting.

Our prayer is that Ghana will emerge victorious at the end of the elections. To achieve this let us endeavour to uphold peace.

God bless our homeland Gha­na and make our nation great and strong.