Yaw Buaben Asamoa, Special Advisor to independent presidential aspirant Alan Kyerematen, has questioned the timing of the National Peace Council’s (NPC) call for a peace pact ahead of the 2024 general elections.
Asamoa argued that the move seems unnecessary given that the current political climate does not suggest imminent threats to peace.
Speaking on TV3’s Key Points program on Saturday, Asamoa expressed concern over the sudden focus on a peace pact.
“Why are we discussing a peace pact when there is no evident threat to peace? Are we at war?” he asked. He criticized the NPC’s approach, suggesting that the emphasis on a peace pact creates a false impression of imminent conflict.
“We were progressing well with political discussions centred on party policies,” Asamoa said.
“Now, suddenly, there’s a call for a peace pact, which suggests a threat. How the Peace Council has handled this is questionable.”
Asamoa further argued that Ghana’s political environment has matured over time, noting that the country has successfully navigated eight elections without widespread fear of violence or power struggles.
In response, George Amoh, the Executive Secretary of the NPC, acknowledged that the Council’s capacity to address electoral violence is limited.
On the same TV3 program, Amoh admitted that while the NPC may not have fully met expectations, it should not be held accountable for the violence during the 2020 elections.
“The expectations placed on us are sometimes too high,” Amoh said. “We cannot meet all these demands. We may not have lived up to expectations, but we cannot be blamed for the 2020 electoral violence.”
Amoh also highlighted the need for public education on the NPC’s mandate, stressing that the Council does not have the authority to make confident pronouncements within the court’s jurisdiction.
Regarding the conditions set by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) for signing the peace pact, Amoh described them as fair and indicated that the NPC is reviewing the conditions to determine which can be directly addressed and which need to be referred to other bodies.
“The conditions are fair to us,” Amoh said. “We need to assess them and decide which ones we can implement and which we need to refer to the appropriate bodies.”
The NDC, led by National Chairman Johnson Asiedu Nketia, has outlined several conditions for agreeing to the peace pact ahead of the December 7 elections.
Nketia previously doubts the effectiveness of peace pacts, citing unresolved issues from the 2020 elections.
During a meeting with NPC members at the NDC headquarters on August 20, Nketia listed the conditions for signing the pact, which include fully implementing investigations into the Ayawaso West Wuogon by-election incidents, prosecuting those involved in election violence, and taking action regarding the printing of ballot papers.
The NDC also seeks a resolution on the missing IT equipment from the Electoral Commission’s warehouse, a public assurance from the President to respect the 2024 election outcome, and signatures from key officials, including the Inspector General of Police, Chief Justice, Attorney-General, and National Security Coordinator.
