Sanity must prevail in Atiwa

Barring any last minute hitch, the people of Atiwa in the Eastern Region will tomorrow, August 31, 2010 go to the polls to elect a new Member of Parliament (MP) following the demise of their MP, Mr. Kwesi Annoh Ankama, whose death occurred in the United Kingdom (UK) where he had gone to seek medical care some weeks ago. May his soul rest in perfect peace!
Since Ghana retuned to multi-party democracy, the Atiwa seat has been what political watchers often describe as a “heaven seat” and a bonafide property of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), which otherwise means that, the party could win any election in the area without the worry of going through any vigorous campaign.
Late Annoh Ankama, is said to have romped home with more than 75 per cent of the total valid votes cast in the 2008 General Election to beat his major contender from the National Democratic Congress (NDC) party, which was then in opposition.
Therefore, the announcement of the election date by the Electoral Commission (EC) set the stage for the usual shadow boxing that usually characterize bye-elections between NPP and NDC. It also offered the stage for supporters of these two parties to commence their usual propaganda on radio stations especially, to remind Atiwa constituents of what they have been able to do, have done or can do for the area if voted to represent the constituency.
It is in the light of these unnecessary media attacks and allegations of vote buying that we on Today newspaper seize this occasion to urge NPP and NDC to spare Ghanaians from any Chereponi, Akwatia, Bimbila, Odododiodioo experience, where government activities virtually grounded to a halt, just because ministers who were supposed to be in their respective working ministries were engaged in needless brawls somewhere.
During these bye-elections, supporters of the two main political parties made it sound as if the country was going to explode if their respective candidates did not win. Decorum and decency was missing in the dictionaries of these political parties as the only language they could understand at the time was violence and an avalanche of insults.
In fact, the paper would like to remind both NDC and NPP that the current state of the country requires peace and stability, coupled with deep thinking and decisive decisions to spur our economy to greater heights. NDC and NPP must not always be allowed to hold this nation to ransom by their misguided actions.
We, therefore, hope that there would be no infractions from members of both parties and that supporters in both camps will conduct themselves well in tomorrow’s bye-election.
On this note, the paper takes this opportunity to advise the people of Atiwa to remain resolute and not allow themselves to be hoodwinked by self-centered and hot-headed politicians, who would want to use every means possible [fair and foul] to relish their ambitions to the detriment of our dear nation.
In striving to ensure a peaceful election, it is important that the police also remain neutral as they discharge their duties before, during and after the polls. Indeed, the professional conduct of the police in tomorrow’s election will go further to strengthen our democracy.
Against this background, Today is calling on the media to eschew exaggerations in their reportage as we are virtually left with one day to go to the polls. We must bear in mind that many civil wars have been caused by irresponsible journalism in some parts of the world.
As media houses, we must be guided by the principles and ethics of our noble profession: thus we must always remain neutral and avoid sensationalism in our reportage.