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President John Evans Atta Mills has promised to accept the verdict of the Electoral Commission (EC) when Ghanaians go to the polls in 2012 to elect a new next president and parliamentarians. He noted that the will of the people must be respected, adding that his government will ensure that the EC is given the needed support to conduct a free, fair and transparent election to produce results that will promote and protect the will of Ghanaians. The President made the promise when he addressed a grand durbar of the Chiefs and people of Anlo to mark the Hogbetsotso festival, which is being celebrated for the first time in over 13 years. President Mills urged candidates, groups and political parties to also accept the verdict of the commission because a level ground will be given to all political parties to protect the will of the people to avoid violence and bloodshed. He stressed that all avenues of the law will be explored to ensure peaceful and violence-free elections in 2012. �We will ensure that we apply the laws to the latter. The people of this country can never be taken for granted�This country needs peace to be able to develop, we do not want violence or bloodshed,� he noted. President Mills also warned the citizenry against fomenting any form of violence or conflict in the upcoming elections, saying his administration will not condone such acts, irrespective of the perpetuator. �I hear people are already beating war drums, let me say this here and now, we will not allow anybody or group of individuals to subvert the peace and tranquillity that has taken us years to build,� he warned. The Hogbetsotso festival, which marks the exodus of people from Notsie in present day Republic of Togo to Ghana, has not been celebrated for about 13 years because of the death of the then Awoamefia, Torgbui Adeladza and the ensuing disputes over his successor. As a result, a reconciliation process was initiated to resolve the chieftaincy dispute in the area, which led to the installation of a retired police commissioner, Patrick Agboba as the new Awoamefia under the stool name Torgbui Sri III in February, this year. President Mills commended people of the Anlo state, which covers over 36 paramouncies and spans over four districts and municipalities for burying their differences. He said �Anlo cannot develop if there is no peace. Sometimes I ask myself what are we fighting over? We should be fighting over ways to improve the lot of the people of Anlo. What is right is right, and what is wrong is wrong,� President Mills stressed. The President reiterated the NDC government�s commitment to the development of the Volta region and noted that plans are on-going to construct the Kedzi-Afiafenyigba-Mitsritkasa road which will shorten the distance between Ho and Keta. He added that he has sourced funds for the construction of the Afloa roads which are currently in deplorable shape. Despite many promises and assurances by the President, the roads in the region have not been rehabilitated. The Awoamefia of the Anlo state, Togbe Sri II called on all Anlos, both home and abroad to unite and support efforts aimed at developing the area. He appealed to government, Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and other investors to invest in the area because the area has a lot of potentials in tourism, fishing, agriculture, salt mining, oil production, just to mention a few. The festival was on the theme; �Reconciliation, Peace, Unity and Development, The Way Forward.� There was a great show of culture in games, acrobatics and dance to promote the unadulterated traditions of the Anlo state.