{"id":253408,"date":"2016-09-29T15:00:21","date_gmt":"2016-09-29T15:00:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=253408"},"modified":"2016-09-29T15:00:21","modified_gmt":"2016-09-29T15:00:21","slug":"northern-region-youth-march-for-peaceful-elections-photos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2016\/09\/northern-region-youth-march-for-peaceful-elections-photos\/","title":{"rendered":"Northern Region youth march for peaceful elections [Photos]"},"content":{"rendered":"
Some youth in the Northern Region have collectively\u00a0called for peaceful elections through a peace march held\u00a0in Tamale.<\/p>\n
The event followed reports suggesting that the 2016 polls could be chaotic, particularly in the Northern Region, where several areas have been identified by police as hotspots.<\/p>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n Representatives of the various political parties, vigilante groups, students, actors and actresses, as well as civil society organizations participated in the peace event under the theme, \u201cEnsuring peaceful elections in Ghana: make peace win.\u201d<\/p>\n It was organized by the Global Peace Ambassadors Network in collaboration with a Non Governmental Organization, the Centre for Active Learning and Integrated Development (CALID).<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n The peace crusaders carried placards with inscriptions such as \u201cOne Ghana, One people,\u201d \u201cWe are Ghanaians not warriors,\u201d \u201cI stand for violence free elections\u201d and \u201cPeace begins with you.\u201d<\/p>\n Some of the peace Ambassadors in a Citi News<\/strong> interview said they were sick and tired of the chieftaincy, land, political and other related conflicts which have reversed the area\u2019s developmental agenda.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n They called for peaceful co-existence to attract investors to create jobs for majority of the idling youth.\u00a0They also admonished politicians to be decorous in their utterances by\u00a0campaigning on issues of national importance.<\/p>\n They implored the Electoral Commission to be transparent in all processes leading to the December polls as a means of ensuring justice to promote peace.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n According to them, Ghana must emerge more united after the December 7 polls to maintain her much touted accolade as the beacon of democracy in Africa.<\/p>\n The Global Peace Ambassadors Platform in a statement stated that, \u201cBeyond our political opinions and preferences, we believe in Ghana first so we are appealing to all candidates and supporters to share our beliefs and make peace win come December 7, 2016.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n \u201cThis campaign for peaceful elections is led by the youth because the youth of Ghana and beyond are often tagged as perpetrators of violence and crimes of all kinds and we the global peace ambassadors believe the time has come for the youth to demystify this perception by serving as change agents and pathfinders.\u201d<\/p>\n The statement further noted\u00a0that, \u201cWe want to protect our growing democracy and the vulnerable in society from acts of violence by creating an enabling atmosphere for all to exercise their free and voting power in the upcoming elections. We as peace ambassadors believe that, peace begins with the individual, peace is a collective responsibility and we believe that without your voice and commitment, a peaceful election and process cannot be achieved.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Executive Director of the Centre for Active Learning and Integrated Development (CALID), Sumani Mohammed, said the peace march was \u00a0part\u00a0of peace campaigns lined up for execution in the Northern Region ahead of the December 7 polls.<\/p>\n He appealed to the electorate in the Northern Region to embrace dialogue as the panacea to solving their differences.\u00a0He urged the youth to shun politicians who usually use them to foment trouble during elections for their selfish gains.<\/p>\n