Preach peace during Election 2016 Kofi Asamoah urges workers
By
Edmund Smith-Asante
 |
| Mr Kofi Asamoah - left, chairing the editorial conference of the Daily Graphic. Those with him are some members of organised labour and members of the editorial conference. Picture: EMMANUEL ASAMOAH ADDAI |
The
Secretary-General of the Trades Union Congress (TUC), Mr Kofi Asamoah, has
urged workers to sensitise their colleagues to the need to maintain the peace
before, during and after the elections this year.
Mr
Asamoah led Organised Labour to perform various roles as Guest Editors of the
Daily Graphic yesterday. Other members of the delegation were Mr Ralp Apayaa,
the General Secretary of the Teachers and Educational Workers Union of Ghana
(TEWU); Mr Kingsley Offei-Nkansah, the General Secretary of the Ghana
Agricultural Workers Union (GAWU)and Mrs Perpetual Ofori-Ampofo, the General
Secretary of the Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association (GRNMA).
The rest
were Mr Prince Asafu-Adjaye, a researcher at the TUC; Mr Alex Nartey, the
President of the Judial Service Staff Association of Ghana (JUSAG); Mr Joseph
King Edu, the Chairman for the Ghana Railway Workers Union (GRWU) and a
representative of the Coalition of Concerned Teachers - Ghana (CCT-GH).
“Workers
have sympathies for various political parties but at the end of the day, they
have to see themselves as workers and be in the forefront of sensitising the
whole public and community around to the need for peace.
“If there
is a chaotic situation, it affects all of us so our preoccupation is that yes,
we are propagating the idea of a peaceful election; we are sensitising
everybody that this country is the only country we have and there is the need
to ensure that there is peace.”
Commenting
on the theme for this year’s national May Day celebration, he affirmed the
commitment of workers to democracy, the rule of law and the respect for the
rights of others.
He called
on all workers to participate in the May Day parades throughout the country,
but asked them to comport themselves as they presented their views to the
government.
Peaceful
election
This
year’s national May Day parade will be held in Wa in the Upper West Region on
the theme; “Election 2016 – the role of workers in securing peaceful election
for national development.”
Mr
Asamoah said the theme was chosen to highlight the values and principles of
democracy, which was the governance path Ghana had consistently trod since
1992.
“We
notice that each time that there is election we see unnecessary agitation
generating and we also see a kind of heightened polarisation. We see a kind of
exchanges between the political parties, which in effect tends to bring some
tension which may lead to any kind of a chaotic situation,” he stated.
He said
in view of that, the workers of the country aim this year, to sensitise people
“to ensure that we have a peaceful election,” which had begun in earnest with a
series of forums all across the country.
Stakeholders
“In so
doing we also bring to the fore, the role of the stakeholders, what is expected
of the Electoral Commission (EC), for instance, to exercise its role
impartially, especially towards the political parties,” he added.
He also
advised that the EC’s independence must not be compromised by anyone.
Turning
his attention to the political parties, Mr Asamoah said the elections must not
be taken as a do-and-die affair.
He urged
members of political parties to respect the views of others and also be
circumspect in their pronouncements so that they did not generate unnecessary
tension.
Writer’s
email: edmund.asante@graphic.com.gh
This story was first published by the Daily Graphic
on April 30, 2016
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