Guard your peace jealously - Sirleaf Johnson to Ghanaians

Mrs Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the President of Liberia, has advised Ghanaians to guard the peace being enjoyed now because any violent incident could degenerate into a national catastrophe.

President Sirleaf, who is also the Chair of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) said: “If there is violence during the elections and it spills over into the communities, there is likely to be a lot of people that would get hurt, some people can die, properties could be destroyed and once that starts, people take advantage of that situation and it spreads beyond control.”

She was speaking to the Ghana News Agency at the sidelines of “Cocktail Time with the Champion of Women Situation Room (WSR) and the Chair of ECOWAS”, organised by the WSR in Accra, on Thursday, with the aim of providing an update documentary on the WSR-Ghana.

President Sirleaf, who is the Champion of WSR, said the situation in Liberia was not the best in memories, “and that is why we want to make sure that Ghana maintains its good reputation of violence-free elections so that the country will continue to grow.”

Dr Mohamed Ibn Chambas, the Special Representative of the UN Secretary General and Head of the United Nations Office of West Africa and the Sahel, said they were pleased that all the seven candidates had pledged to work to achieve peaceful elections in Ghana earlier in the day– a programme put together by the National Peace Council.

Mr Zakiyu Iddris Tindannayil, a youth activist from the Zongo Community, assured the WSR-Ghana of the commitment of the Zongo Community to support in the efforts to maintain a peaceful atmosphere before, during and after the December 7 Elections.

Christine Evans-Klock, the United Nations Resident Coordinator, expressed gratitude to all the partners of the WSR for the massive contributions towards the project.

Ms Theodosia Sowa, the Executive Director of African Women’s Development Fund (AWDF) said the WSR was one of the many ways the strength of African women was displayed to the world.

The WSR was initiated by ABIC with the support of Liberian women and youth organisations.

The Goal of the WSR is to ensure that in accordance with United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 and the Gender Is My Agenda Campaign of the African Union, women in collaboration with youth, play active and substantive roles in ensuring and sustaining peaceful elections.

The WSR is set to deploy an all women observers team to observe the general election in various polling stations across the country.