Inter-Party C’tee Moves To Raise Awareness

The Bolgatanga Municipal Inter-Party Dialogue Committee (IPDC) has met to discuss how to reduce the incidence of political violence before and after elections.

The meeting, organised by the municipal directorate of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), brought together representatives from the Electoral Commission (EC), the security agencies, political parties, NGOs, the mass media, ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) constituting IPDC.

During the working session, members of the committee examined pertinent issues such as the use of offensive language during campaigns, parties' compliance with electoral laws and destructive political activities, including the defacing or removal of posters.

Members also discussed the role of political parties as agents of change, mechanisms for conflict resolution, and equal publicity rights for all contesting political parties and the incumbency factor.

The committee expressed dissatisfaction at the poor response of political parties in the area to IPDC meetings and urged their executives to reverse the trend.

The members also called on the Government to increase budgetary allocations to constitutional bodies such as the NCCE, EC, the National Media Commission (NMC) and the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAG) to enable them to educate the citizenry adequately on their civic rights and responsibilities.