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THE CHAIRMAN of the National Peace Council, Most Rev. Prof. Emmanuel Asante says some media houses nearly plugged the country into war in 2008 and 2012 by taking advantage of the political tension that characterized these elections by inciting supporters of their political masters.

According to him, the country came close to war in these two previous elections which is a signal for pragmatic measures to be put in place to reduce political tension in 2016 and subsequent elections.

"In2008 we had two major Fm stations that almost set us on fire, because they have aligned themselves to specific political parties the kinds of statement that came out there, kind of inciting people."

Most Rev. Prof. Asante said this in an interview with the media during a dialogue with political parties and stakeholders in Koforidua in the Eastern Region.

He added that the Council, having observed closely misunderstanding and tension that happened in the last two elections held in Ghana, it is imperative to advise stakeholders on how to hold a peaceful election in 2016, hence, the nationwide dialogue to reach consensus.

“We also came close to it [violence in 2008, 2012], are we going to be fortunate in 2016? We need to sit back and learn from what happened in 2012 – the successes and the challenges that confronted us in 2012. We need to talk about that and say to ourselves what we can do to avoid those challenges.

“At the end, political parties should be able to say we have learned from each other and know the things we need to avoid and promote to ensure peaceful electioneering campaign and peaceful elections. We want the nation to be first in our thinking,” the religious leader said.

He advised that, politicians must not hold entrenched positions on issues to pave way for consensus for peaceful elections.

The program was attended by political parties, security personnel and other stakeholders in election in the Eastern Region. However, the opposition New Patriotic Party did not participate. 

The deputy Eastern regional secretary of the governing National Democratic Congress, Francis Annor Dompreh, pledged the NDC's commitment to ensuring free, fair and transparent election. He said, the party has record of initiating major reforms in the history of Ghana's democracy all with the aim of ensuring free, fair and transparent election.

Representative of Movement for Joint Action, a pressure group in Koforidua, Pharm Silas Agyekum, said the electoral commission has the major responsibility of reducing political tension by building relatively credible voters register for election 2016.