The Role Of The Youth In Promoting Peace Before, During And After The elections

Elections are a fundamental tenet of democracy. For periodic elections are held in any truly democratic country. And the Republic of Ghana, come December 7, will conduct its 7th general elections under its 4th republic. Political pundits and even the electorates deem the forthcoming elections an extremely delicate exercise.

Why? The NPP have vowed to win the general elections in order to salvage our nation from its economic morass. But the adamant NDC strongly believes that it needs another term in office to fix our socioeconomic hurdles. So the political debates continue in the mass media. That is why we all hope for peace before, during and after the elections.

However, hearts beat in strange patterns, headaches are developed by citizens, and the nation sits on tenterhooks when elections are set to be held. Fears of the citizens become visible in the eyes. This owes to the various disputes that erupt from elections in different countries around the globe. The masses involved in such disputes are the youths of such nations. In this article, we shall try our very best to explicate some ways by which the youths can help maintain peace before, during and after the forthcoming elections.

Just before we sail to how the youths can be instruments for maintaining peace, we will like to explain why we feel the youths can actually serve this purpose. If we talk of the youths of a nation, we talk of the strength of the nation, the labour class of the nation and the power house of that nation.

What this means is that, any change in the form of development which should affect the nation should first be directed towards the youths. Since juveniles and oldies are dependent upon the youths for survival, any change towards the youths greatly affects the whole population. Now, we believe you have every reason to read the subsequent paragraphs which expound how the youths can serve as instruments for maintaining peace.

The youth as a tool for preaching peace is one sure way of promoting peace in the forthcoming elections. It is no misnomer to say that when the engines of war are sparked in any nation, the youths become the fuels used by such engines in their operations. There is a saying that, “If you want to keep your thing safe from thieves, then keep it with a thief.”

Citing this popular adage as basis for our explanation, it is clear that if the youths who themselves are the source of generating wars preach peace among themselves, then the tendency for any disputes arising from the elections becomes impossible or rare. The only way this can be achieved is if each and every one of us sees every passing minute as a moment of campaigning for peace anywhere we find ourselves. That is to say; the driver should use his car as an opportunity to preach peace, the radio presenter should use the airwaves for the same purpose, the poet should use his/her poems for that same purpose, and what have you.

The youths can also be seen as a tool for promoting oneness in such times. The source of peace is oneness. If the nation must stand in peace, then unity should be worked at. The major source of wars in political circumstances is political differences. If the youths who are mostly seen holding high the banners of various political parties on the day of elections are educated to realize that the nation comes first in everything we do, they become tools for promoting oneness in the country.

This goes a long way to bridge the gap between various political party supporters in the nation as well as promoting peace during the elections. This particular role of the youths exerts so much pressure on the leadership of the nation since provisions must be made for public education on the said topic, prompting the youths on the need for oneness in such times as elections.

Nonetheless, the youths can be seen as watchdogs over their communities. There should be carefully planned strategies by the National Peace Council and the various security agencies to avert the eruption of any war during this election, because there is a tendency for some unscrupulous people hiding among the lots to drag the name of the country into the mud.

It is therefore very important that the youths, the green leaves of the nation, find comfort and pleasure in placing their ears very close to the ground. As soon as any information that could be relevant to averting such problems as disputes pop up, the youths should be instrumental in reporting them to the appropriate authorities for further investigations and finding solutions.

The nation depends on the youths for progress, so if peace must prevail in the nation, then peace must prevail among the youths. These few ideas explained above are vital towards promoting peace before, during and after the forthcoming elections, which many tend to call “The Toughest Election Ever in Ghana.” I hope after travelling through this article right from “Elections” down here, you have enough reasons to help uphold the peace we are currently enjoying, during and after the elections.

Ghana is for you, Ghana is for me and Ghana is for us. Only you and I can make the country worth living in.

God bless Ghana!