Effort of governance institutions to create an enabling environment for a peaceful campaign was given impetus on Tuesday by the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) through education on political tolerance. The psychological sensitization campaign seeks to expose the youth to propagandist schemes of politicians and the use of superstition to manipulate the vulnerable and money to incite the youth. Speaking at a public symposium on the theme; “Educating the Youth on Political Tolerance in an Election year; The Role of the Counsellor,” Mr. Kwaku Baa-Owusu, NCCE Director of Public Education, urged the youth to recognize that society was a bouquet of diversity. He said national politicking since independence had been largely one of “we” and “them” which created the immediate post-independence political fray. The symposium was organized by the NCCE in collaboration with the Department of Psychology and Education, University of Education, Winneba, as part of the 8th National Constitution Week celebration. Students from the various second cycle institutions in Accra and representatives of the National Youth Organizers of National Democratic Congress (NDC), Convention People’s Party (CPP) and People’s National Convention (PNC) attended the symposium, chaired by Mrs Augustina Akosua Akumani, NCCE Deputy Commissioner in-charge of Administration. Mr Baa-Owusu noted that though efforts had been made to build a culture of tolerance, “it is obvious that the weakness of political intolerance shows in every facet of our political life to date”. There is therefore the need to build structures that promote respect for diversity, whilst developing personal capacity to operate within politically challenging systems. He urged the youth, especially National Youth Organisers of the various political parties, to educate their members to respect principles such as rule of law, equity, fairness, justice and transparency. “There is the need to instill in the youth a strong desire for peace through internal processes of peace building, problem identification and conflict resolution,” he said. Mr. Baa-Owusu also called for the creation of avenues and platforms for discussing issues which allow for free expression as a right among the youth. Mr. Amos Neequaye, Senior Electoral Officer at the Electoral Commission (EC), who spoke on “Multi-Party Democracy: A Tool for National Unity,” emphasised the need to adhere to the provisions of the Constitution on the operations of political parties. He said if political parties operated within the Political Parties Act, Code of Conduct for Election, the rule of law and respect for opposing views, general elections would be peaceful. Mr Neequaye pledged the EC’s commitment to create an enabling condition for conducting peaceful, transparent and acceptable elections. Mr Kofi Adams, NDC Deputy National Youth Organiser, called on political leaders to champion the cause of peace and tolerance during and after the general elections. He said this could be achieved by constantly advising their followers on the need to tolerate the views of other political party members. Mr Adams said even though the youth could play an active role for the nation to have peaceful elections because they formed the greater percentage of the nation's population, there was the need for political leaders to also exhibit a high sense of maturity in their campaign to avoid trouble. He therefore, urged politicians to educate their followers to understand that belonging to different political parties did not mean "we are enemies". Politics of insults and the use of abusive language would not do the country any good but rather create confusion and division among the people and retard the progress of the nation, he said. Mr Kwamena Bomfeh Jnr., CPP National Youth Organiser, advised politicians to place the interest of the people and the nation above their personal agenda when voted into power. He appealed to traditional and religious leaders to join hands in the campaign to ensure free, fair and peaceful elections. Mr Emmanuel Wilson, PNC National Youth Organiser, blamed the adult population for political violence and called on the youth to reject their negative influence. Students from the University of Education dramatized the harmful effect of political violence. Source: GNA