The National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) has appealed to the media not to propagate political messages that fuel religious intolerance ahead of the 2024 General Election.
The Commission said religious intolerance and divisiveness in political campaign messages were dangerous and urged the citizenry to disregard political actors who promoted such deeds.
Addressing a press conference in Accra on Monday, Ms Kathleen Addy, Chairperson, NCCE, also appealed to the media to cross-check facts before publication and discourage the use of intemperate language on their platforms.
The meeting heralded the official commencement of work of the NCCE’s Inter-Party Dialogue Committees (IPDC) – a unifying body to promote peace and tolerance among political parties before, during, and after the general elections.
The IPDCs serve as a platform for dialogue and collaboration among political parties, stakeholders, and citizens to address electoral concerns, promote tolerance, and mitigate conflicts.
Ms Addy said religious tolerance was essential in promoting peaceful coexistence and encouraged citizens to safeguard the peace and harmony existing among various religious groups.
“We are paying close attention to religious intolerance and ethnic-based campaigns that are divisive and do not augur well for us.
“It is a very unhealthy practice, and we hope that as time goes on and we deepen and mature in our democracy, we will see less of that,” she said.
The NCCE reiterated its caution against the continuous monetisation of elections, describing the phenomenon as a threat to Ghana’s democracy.
Ms Addy urged the public to desist from demanding money from political actors as doing so would weaken their ability to demand accountability.
“We want to see a situation where this time the media is consciously disallowing political actors from using their platforms to promote negative things, she said, and added: “let’s not give oxygen to fake news.”
Sheikh Armiyawo Shaibu, the spokesperson of the National Chief Imam, appealed to the youth to abstain from politicians who had the intention to influence them to perpetuate violence for political power.
He also appealed to the media to constantly educate the public on their civic responsibilities and promote positive practices.
“If you don’t educate, what you do is to ‘mis-educate,’ when you do not inform, you misinform.” Sheikh Shaibu said.
Reverend Father Kwasi Adjei Clement, Secretary General, Catholic Bishops Conference, appealed to the media not to entertain any political party which sought to draw politics into religion and rallied the public to disregard such political messages.
Manye Naa Badu Adiagba I, representative of the Abelenkpe and Dzorwulu Traditional Stool, urged the NCCE’s dialogue committees to trace and detect early warning signals and device proactive measures to counter any disturbance in the upcoming elections.
