The Conference, in a statement issued by the President of GCBC, Most Rev. Philip Naameh and released to The Ghanaian Times in Accra yesterday, further commended the Electoral Commission (EC) for living up to the task and organising very credible, transparent, free and fair elections.

“We likewise congratulate all other stakeholders such as the National Peace Council, security agencies, judiciary, the media, civil society, faith based and international observer organisations and all communities for their invaluable contributions to the success of our elections,” it said.

It also commended Ghanaians for conducting themselves very well throughout the electoral process stating, “let us therefore rekindle the spirit of national unity and move Ghana our beloved country forward”.

The GCBC urged on all political party supporters, who have gone about vandalising national and private assets and assaulting persons perceived as opponents, to desist from such acts of lawlessness.

“We hereby call on the appropriate security agencies to enforce the laws of the land and ensure the safety of life and property of Ghanaians,” it said.
It said it looks forward to a peaceful and smooth transfer of power to the incoming government and asked all institutions and parties concerned with the transition process to be committed to it.

The conference prayed that Ghana would continue to enjoy the peace she had enjoyed over the years, to make room for development and growth and wished all Ghanaians a Merry Christmas and a happy new year full of God’s blessings.

In a related development, Food Sovereignty Ghana has congratulated Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for emerging winner of the presidential election and President Mahama for gracefully conceding defeat.

Food Sovereignty, in a press release to The Ghanaian Times, appealed to the president-elect to as a matter of urgency consider the systematic application of agroecology and sustainable agriculture as a crucial national challenge.

“We urgently need to tackle this in the face of climate change and our survival needs, we need to address it for the sake of ensuring the sanctity of human health and environmental safety for our own sake and the sake of the future generations,” it said.

It said it was about time Ghana sought solutions to Ghanaians problems rather than allowing foreign giants agriculture and chemical corporations to impose their solutions to their advantage for profit maximisation at the expense of the poor Ghanaian farmer.

The Chinese President, Xi Jinping, on Monday extended congratulations to Ghanaian President-elect Nana Akufo-Addo.

In a congratulatory message, Mr. Xi said Ghana was one of the earliest Sub-Saharan countries to establish diplomatic relations with China and the two countries enjoy a deep and rich friendship with a long history.

“I attach great importance to the development of China-Ghana relations and stand ready to work with you to carry forward our traditional friendship, deepen political mutual trust and expand mutually beneficial cooperation so as to lift China-Ghana relations to a higher level and bring more benefits to the two countries and peoples,” said the Chinese President.

The Chairperson of Ghana National Educational Campaign Coalition (GNECC), Mr. Bright Appiah has congratulated Nana Akufo-Addo on his election, and called on him to fulfil his campaign promises on education, reports Charles Amankwa.

He said payment of teacher allowances, termination of basic education at the secondary education level and free senior high school education were some key promises that the coalition expected him to accomplish during his tenure.
Speaking to The Ghanaian Times at the sidelines of an election observation report launch in
Accra yesterday, Mr. Appiah urged the Nana Akufo-Addo to remain committed to his promises if he would be successful in promoting access to quality education.
“Though we initially indicated that some of the promises would be very difficult to achieve, for example, the payment of teachers’ allowances, we still expect Nana Akufo-Addo to live up to his promises,” he stressed.

According to him, the promises by the president-elect would require enormous work including review of existing provisions and huge chunk of money to be able to accomplish.
Citing the termination of basic school education at the secondary level as an example, Mr.
Appiah said the new government will need to review the law on free compulsory basic education while providing enough fund to support the free high school policy.

“All could be achieve but not without sweat or hard work. The new administration will need to focus on promoting access to quality education for all and that will require full commitment from the President-elect,” he said.

Mr. Appiah further urged Ghanaians including civil society groups, institutions and the public to hold the government accountable to all promises and support it to fulfil most of them.
On the election, he commended the EC for supervision free, credible, transparent and incident-free presidential and parliamentary elections.

He said observation made by Child Rights International (CRI), a civil society group, during the elections showed that protection and proper care were given to pregnant women, nursing mothers, little children and people living with disability.

According to him, staff of CRI who were deployed to various polling stations across the country observed that such groups of persons did not struggle to cast their votes.
“In many instances, shade was provided for nursing mothers and pregnant women while the disabled were assisted to vote,” he said.

Mr. Appiah again noted that out of 124 polling stations that were visited in 30 constituencies in the Greater Accra Region by the team, only eight failed to attend to pregnant women.
He said the team observed that nursing mothers were more likely to receive attention than parents with children under the age of five years.

He however urged the EC and other state institutions in the country to factor in the concerns of children when designing programmes, policies and laws.

By Times Reporter