The Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference has urged stakeholders to address the concerns of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) before committing to any peace pact ahead of the 2024 polls.
The NDC has indicated its reluctance to commit to a peace agreement without certain conditions being met.
In an interview with Citi News, the President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference, Most Rev. Mathew Kwasi Gyamfi, emphasised the importance of justice in achieving lasting peace.
He stated that peace should not be pursued at the expense of addressing legitimate concerns.
“Our position is that for there to be peace, there should always be justice. Some of the issues that the NDC are raising should be addressed. For example, in the Ayawaso incident, if there were findings, how were the findings implemented? The murders, what are the investigations so far and where have we reached?
“The electoral commission, the machines or those things. It doesn’t cost us any harm to tell us, hey, this is where we have reached. We are going this way, the investigation is still ongoing, but this is what we have done.”
“When these things are addressed, then the NDC will have no basis not to sign the peace agreement. What the respective agencies have to do is to at least inform all Ghanaians what is the state, and what have they been doing.
“We know that some of these things cannot be hurried, it takes time, but at least let them tell us how far they have gone and how much information they can give us. Let them tell the whole Ghanaian population and I believe that will settle issues.”
He also stressed that the peace of the country should not depend on any political party’s decision to sign or not sign a peace agreement.
Instead, he called on all political parties to prioritise the country’s peace above all other things and not hold the country hostage to political interests.
