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The ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Eastern Region yesterday failed to participate in a peace march organised by the Eastern regional command of the Ghana Police Service for all political parties and security agencies in the region, as well as some civil society groups including the clergy, traditional rulers, local council of churches, the Muslim community and media practitioners. The regional minister, Victor Emmanuel Smith and his deputy, Ebenezer Okletey Terlabi, who were also invited, did not show up. Messages of peace were delivered by representatives of all the political parties including the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Convention People�s Party (CPP), People�s Progressive Party (PPP) and the People�s National Convention (PNC), after the participants had gone through the principal streets of Koforidua, the regional capital, and converged on the Jackson Park for peace messages. Representatives of the newly-formed National Democratic Party (NDP) were also part of the peace march but they were not made to give any peace message. NDC�s absence at the all-important peace march has drawn condemnations from some opposition political parties and civil society groups, with some pointing out that NDC�s failure to participate in the peace march was an indication that the party was not committed to peace during the general elections. The Deputy Eastern regional police commander, ACP James Abass-Abaah, confirmed to DAILY GUIDE yesterday that he did not see any representatives of the ruling NDC at the peace march, adding that when it was time for the NDC to deliver its peace message, the party was not represented. According to ACP Abass-Abaah, the regional command had been meeting political parties at the regional Inter Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) meetings every two weeks and had made it known to them about the intention of the police to have such a peace march so that they would commit themselves to peace before, during and after the general elections. �We came up with this idea about three or four months ago and each time we planned to have it, something else cropped up until the death of the late president so we had to reschedule it for yesterday,� ACP Abass-Abaah said, stressing that invitation letters to all political parties and civil society groups were accordingly dispatched to them in good time. He said no explanation or reason from NDC officials had been communicated to the police about their inability to attend the peace march. He noted that for now, he would not jump to conclusion until the party made its reason for its absence public. ACP Abass-Abaah noted that everyone�s contribution was needed towards peaceful elections, adding that media practitioners had a crucial role to play to ensure incident-free elections. �Every morning, the media, especially the radio and TV stations, serve the nation with a breakfast of violence through their morning shows which is very worrying,� he stressed. The NPP regional youth organiser, Frank Annoh-Dompreh, who led the NPP team in the march, described NDC�s absence at the peace march as a �calculated boycott� which, according to him, did not augur well for the security of the general elections. �These people led by late President Mills and now President Mahama have always been preaching about peace but in actual fact, they are not really committed to genuine peace in the country,� he said. He explained that the posture of NDC officials clearly showed that they did not want peace in the country and Ghanaians should be wary of them. The regional youth organiser said the NDC also deliberately refused to attend the national delegates� conference of the NPP over the weekend because it knew that it would be forced to commit itself to peace since all the speakers at the conference spoke about the need for peace during the elections. �The NDC has been attending almost all our national delegates� conferences despite our differences in political ideologies but why did they refuse to attend this particular conference when every Ghanaian is preaching about peace as a result of the crucial nature of this year�s general elections?� he questioned, adding that the security agencies should take serious note of such a posture and not take any partial stand during the general elections. Frank Annoh-Dompreh, in a message of peace at the Jackson Park, said the NPP was very committed to peace despite the negative connotation being given to the �All Die Be Die� mantra, by the NDC. �We are saying that we want fairness and professionalism from the police and other security agencies during the elections, as well as free and fair process of the elections and that if the police and the other security agencies try to project the ruling NDC above other political parties or show clear biases against the opposition parties during the elections, then we as a party will definitely resist that,� he noted. He told the regional police to make special arrangements and send more policemen to constituencies like Akwatia, Atiwa, Afram Plains South and Afram Plains North since these constituencies were flash-points, to help avert any unfortunate incidents there. �We want to call on all peace-loving Ghanaians to reject people who are planning to perpetrate violence and undermine the will of the people,� he said. Meanwhile, sources from the regional office of NDC said that the party absented itself from the peace march because it was busy preparing for the special congress on Saturday in Kumasi.