The Secretary General in separate telephone calls placed to the two candidates on Tuesday , November 29 said it was important for them to help maintain an environment of peace and credible elections.

He said the two candidates must help in defusing tensions and preserving peace before, during and after the 2016 general elections.

He also urged the two to sign “a Code of Conduct which will greatly assist in lowering tensions and preventing electoral violence.”

Read the Secretary General’s full release below:

Secretary-General’s telephone conversations with H.E. Mr. John Dramani Mahama, President of the Republic of Ghana, and Mr. Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, Head of Ghana’s opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP)

Today, the Secretary-General had separate telephone conversations with H.E. Mr. John Dramani Mahama, President of the Republic of Ghana, and Mr. Nana Akufo-Addo, head of Ghana’s opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), to discuss the general elections that are scheduled to take place on 7 December in Ghana.

The Secretary-General underscored the importance of an environment conducive to peaceful and credible elections, and urged the two leaders to continue their role in defusing tensions and preserving peace. Bearing in mind Ghana’s history of political stability and peaceful elections, the Secretary-General underscored the need for all political parties to sign a Code of Conduct, which will greatly assist in lowering tensions and preventing electoral violence.

New York, 29 November 2016.”

The international community have shown a keen interest in Ghana’s elections following the country’s enviable record in holding peaceful polls in spite of high pre-election tension.

‘US warns nationals in Ghana’

Last week, the US Embassy in Accra issued an alert to its citizens in Ghana to avoid political hotspots. The release mentioned a number areas in the country the embassy had identified as hotspots where violence or electoral trouble may occur with little or no danger warning.

By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @jnyabor

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The strikes, which witnesses say came from the air, came hours after Syria declared a week-old US-Russia brokered cessation of hostilities at an end.

Russia and Syria have both insisted that their forces were not involved.

But UN chief Ban Ki-moon launched a stinging attack on the Syrian government, saying it had killed the most civilians in the civil war.

In unusually blunt language, Mr Ban said “powerful patrons… feeding the war machine, also have blood on their hands”.

US Secretary of State John Kerry insisted the ceasefire deal was “not dead”, following talks on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly on New York on Tuesday.

UN Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura also said there was still hope but said delegates from the Syria Support Group, which includes Russia, had agreed it was in danger.

The attack at Urum al-Kubra destroyed 18 of 31 lorries and killed about 20 civilians, including a senior local official of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent, aid officials said.

Russian defence ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said that after studying video taken at the scene they “did not find any signs of munitions hitting the convoy”.

“Everything shown in the video is the direct result of a fire which mysteriously began at the same time as a large scale rebel attack on Aleppo,” he said.

The Syrian military, quoted by state media, said there was “no truth” to reports that the army had targeted the convoy.

A media activist who witnessed the attack told the BBC Arabic service that Russian reconnaissance planes had been spotted, apparently filming the passage of the convoy.

He said the first strike came at about 19:00 local time on Monday, when a helicopter dropped several barrel bombs. This was followed by rocket and machine-gun fire from aircraft, he said.

Just a day ago, aid workers in Geneva were “almost celebrating” one said, because all the necessary permits had been received, all the warring parties had been notified, and a convoy was finally going to Aleppo province.

The 31 lorries were carrying supplies for 78,000 people in Urum al-Kubra. But this morning, the optimistic mood had changed.

Aid workers familiar with some of the world’s most brutal conflicts were in shock, some close to tears, others expressed disgust. Vitamins and blankets, books and pencils for children, medicines to treat burns or diabetes have all been destroyed.

The head of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent’s office in Urum was killed, dying of his injuries as he waited hours to be evacuated. Now the UN and the Red Cross have suspended aid deliveries. Millions of Syrians who had hoped the brief ceasefire might bring some relief will, a Red Cross spokesman said, go on suffering, “and they have been for years”.

Ban Ki-moon, in his final address as UN Secretary-General to the UN General Assembly in New York, said many groups had killed innocents in Syria “but none more so than the government of Syria, which continues to barrel-bomb neighbourhoods and systematically torture thousands of detainees”.

He called the attack on the aid convoy “sickening, savage and apparently deliberate” and called for those responsible to be held to account.

A UN spokesman said earlier that the convoy had received proper permits, and all warring parties – including Russia and the US – had been notified.

The President of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Peter Maurer, denounced the attack as a “flagrant violation of international humanitarian law”.

Syrian Red Crescent President Abdulrahman Attar said: “It is totally unacceptable that our staff and volunteers continue to pay such a high price because of the ongoing fighting.”

The US expressed “outrage” over the attack. Washington has said it will “reassess the future prospects for co-operation” with Russia – an ally of Syria’s government.

Aid deliveries to besieged areas had been a key part of the cessation of hostilities deal brokered last week.

The convoy was being unloaded at a Red Crescent warehouse when the attack began. The aid had been due to be delivered to people in rebel-held areas around Urum al-Kubra, who were last supplied in mid-July.

A health clinic near the warehouse was also badly damaged.

The attack appeared to signal the collapse of the latest effort by the US, which backs the rebels, and Russia to halt the violence in Syria.

The Syrian military and rebels have accused each other of widespread violations.

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Source: BBC

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