Okaikoi Youth Foundation Hold Forum For Political Parties In Constituency

The Okaikoi Youth Foundation (OYF) at the weekend organized a forum to create a platform for all the members of the various political parties in the constituency to interact and also pledge their commitment to peace during and after the 2012 elections. The forum held at Heavy�s Palace was attended by the parliamentary candidates of the major political parties in the constituency. They are Alexander Ackuaku of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Ahmed Arthur of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), and Harriet Anita Abaidoo of the Convention Peoples Party (CPP). The president of OYF, Rester Dogboe said the objective of the forum was to educate the various youth of the various political parties to ensure election without violence in the 2012 pools. He further said the forum was also to give opportunity for the youth in the constituency to interact with the parliamentary candidates and share ideas of how to engage in healthy political discourse and campaign without insults to ensure that the 2012 elections went off peacefully. Mr Dogboe said the 2012 elections could be marred by the inactions and utterances from the leaders and members of the various political parties. Against this backdrop, the president of OYF said there was the need to educate the youth on the essentials of peace and also bring them together to interact and diffuse tensions that build up during elections. He said the OYF would continue to play a leading role in educating the youth to ensure a peaceful and successful in 2012. The parliamentary candidates took turns to address the youth and advised them to desist from acts which could ignite electoral conflicts. They said politics was not about insults but trading of ideas, noting the Ghanaian voters are discerning and would not vote for parties which are able to insult most but vote based on ideas and the message of the parties. The candidates pledged their commitment for peace and engage in civil political campaigns. The stakes are very high and 2012 elections would be keenly contested. The ruling NDC government wants to retain power to continue the party�s �Better Ghana Agenda,� considering that the party had achieve a lot during relative short period of the stay of the party in power. But the major opposition party sees otherwise. The NPP is bent on clinching power from the ruling government for what the party describes a �woeful performance by NDC which had brought untold hardship on the citizens.�