Dec polls: Keep 'enviable record' – Johnson Sirleaf

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has expressed confidence Ghana will have a peaceful and successful presidential and parliamentary election on 7 December.

At an event under the auspices of the National Peace Council in Accra on Thursday, 1 December, where all seven presidential candidates contesting in this year’s election signed a peace pact ahead of the polls, the ECOWAS representative and president of Liberia, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, charged Ghanaians to maintain their enviable record of three successful transitions of power.

According to her, the ECOWAS communities as well as heads of state in the ECOWAS sub-region wish Ghanaians peaceful elections.

“Ghana has been on the forefront of a democratic system that works. Ghana has led the way in three successful peaceful transfer of power. We applaud the Ghanaian people for this success and we have confidence that in the December 7 elections, they will uphold this enviable record,” she stated.

“We equally applaud the leaders who are contesting and we thank them for their express commitment to peace and to confidence in the electoral institutions and processes. We applaud them for the Accra Declaration that they have just signed unto,” the Liberian president added.

She noted that peace resided in the abode of the ordinary Ghanaian and, therefore, entreated the Ghanaian electorate to protect the country’s peace.

“To the women of Ghana and the youth of Ghana joined by the people of Ghana, we say to you peace is in your hands. You will need to take charge of the process that ensures that the record of Ghana remains as it is. We look to you to uphold that tradition, we look to you to protect it,” she said.