By Kantam Juicy
Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, has reiterated the need for Ghanaians to protect Ghana’s democracy as violent extremists within the sub-region are poised to take advantage of tensions that characterise election.
To this end, he has admonished Ghanaians to be disciplined and decorum in the run up to elections 2024 since they are critical ingredients to the democratic dispensation of the country. Mr. Bagbin said this at this year’s Harmattan School of the University for Development Studies in Tamale.
Established by the Institute of Interdisciplinary Research (IIR), the Harmattan School has become a pivotal two-day event that converges diverse stakeholders to deliberate on pressing development challenges within the nation. It also seeks to foster insightful conversations, networking opportunities, and knowledge exchange among participants.
This year’s event was attended by academia, security experts and agencies among others. As the country gears up for another general election in December, key stakeholders are calling for an incident-free election as insecurity heightens in the sub region. Security Analyst, Adam Bonaa, said measures and strategies may be employed to prevent violent extremists into the country but the most critical issue is when the citizens are dissatisfied with the system.
He said pockets of violence recorded in recent times make the people fragile and vulnerable to manipulate. ” When the people are hungry it is more lethal than waiting for Al-kaida or Islamist to come into your country to bomb. When people feel marginalized it is easy to corrupt them”, He emphasized.
Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, urged the Electoral Commission to endeavor to conduct the upcoming elections with integrity.
He also charged the media to exhibit high sense of professionalism before, during and after the general elections. He said “The media must ensure responsibility given the role they play in shaping public opinion about the fairness or otherwise of an electoral process.
Mr. Bagbin was however not impressed about how the media is overlooked in terms of support, “Nobody in Ghana even talks about the condition of service of media men and women, how do we expect them to survive or eat, it’s an area that I believe, as we move towards the elections, this country should take seriously”.
Vice Chancellor of UDS, Prof. Seidu Alhassan, announced that the university has secured 100,000 dollar into the Research Fund to support research works. ” How much is the fund? Ladies and Gentlemen, I am happy to announce to you that the university is starting with a 100,000 dollars and I am going to sign a check of 500,000 Ghana cedis to start with”, He disclosed. The 18th Harmattan School was on the theme, “Accountable Governance, Violent Extremism, and the 2024 Election”.
