It is your responsibility to vote - Palmer-Buckle to Ghanaians

The Most Reverend Charles Gabriel Palmer-Buckle, the Catholic Archbishop of Accra, has urged Ghanaians to turn out and vote massively during the December polls.

He said it was their civic responsibility for the nation to vote for any political party of their choice, as well as select the right leaders to run the country.

He made these remarks on Friday during a courtesy call on the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Ghana Armed Forces, in Accra.

The purpose of his visit was to ascertain the spiritual well-being of soldiers of the Catholic faith and the military in general.

Present were the clergy, current and retired Commanders of the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF).

The Archbishop complained that there was so much indiscipline with respect to the activities toward the up-coming general elections and called on political leaders to take a firm stand and control their supporters from violating the electoral rules, in order to avoid election- related violence.

He said priests had a duty to pray for Ghana, emphasising that the Catholic Bishops’ Conference sometimes went to the extent of having closed door meetings with political leaders who made wrong pronouncements on political platforms.

For his part, Air Marshal Michael Samson-Oje, the Chief of Defence Staff, said the GAF would not tolerate any form of action that could disturb the country’s peace, adding “the military will act fiercely”.

He indicated that the GAF was ready to cooperate with the Ghana Police Service and other security agencies to ensure order before, during and after the general elections.

Politicians, he said, were not getting it right on their campaigns, hence the need to be wary of what their actions could cause to the country.

The head of the GAF added that the military was neutral and ready to defend and serve Ghana first before any political party.

He also advised the media to desist from announcing the final election results ahead of the Electoral Commission.