Colonel Alex Appiah-Agyapong, Coordinator of the Strong Room of the National Elections Security Taskforce, on Monday appealed to journalists and politicians not to compromise the integrity of the elections with public pronouncements on the performance of the special voting.
He said it was necessary the military and other actors, who were engaged in the special voting, were helped to remain neutral to avoid being victimized by the winner of the elections.
Colonel Appiah-Agyapong made the appeal at a day's meeting organized by the National Peace Council with sponsorship from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). It was to review the performance of the December 7 polls, and to chart a course to maintain peace at the presidential election runoff scheduled for Sunday, December 28.
Participants were drawn from the two political parties, whose candidates are contesting the runoff, the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC), the Military, Police and Journalists.
He said the neutrality of the security forces and other special voters were paramount to maintain a peaceful, smooth and enjoyable electoral process.
Colonel Appiah-Agyapong said such declarations had the tendency to politicize the military and might give room for an elected president, as commander in chief of the armed forces, to create parallel forces, which could be recipe for post-election conflict.
Mr Alex Segbefia, Campaign Co-ordinator of the NDC, urged political parties to be cautious about their pronouncements on the elections.
Maulivi Abdul Wahab Adam, a Member of the National Peace Council, who chaired the meeting, re-echoed the need for peace at the runoff saying the election should make the country more peaceful for better national development.