The Vice-President, Mr John Dramani Mahama, has charged leaders of the various political parties to do away with their political differences and build consensus to ensure peaceful, transparent and fair presidential and parliamentary elections next year. “We should not allow our differences of opinion and diversity of thought to separate us. Despite the political differences, we can all strive to achieve peaceful and transparent elections,” he stressed. Mr Mahama made the call at a durbar of chiefs and people of the Yilo Krobo Traditional Area to celebrate Kloyosikplemi at Somanya on Saturday. The various chiefs, led by the acting Konor (President) of the Yilo Krobo Traditional Council, Osayem Tetteh Odorkor Tuumeh I, who were beautifully dressed in their cloths and beads and surrounded by their subjects, sat in state at the Somanya Lorry Park to mark the festival, which is in remembrance of the migration of their ancestors from Krobo Mountains to their current location. It was held on the theme: “Preserving our Heritage for Accelerated Development”. The Vice-President noted that conflicts of any kind destabilised a country and held back socio-economic development, besides the destruction of existing infrastructure. “Therefore it is our collective responsibility to promote peace and unity ahead of the election,” he said. Mr Mahama urged political leaders to employ dialogue to discuss and resolve electoral issues, saying that “We should commit ourselves to ensuring that next year's election is peaceful and transparent.” The Vice-President’s call for dialogue and consensus building towards the forthcoming election came in the wake of comments made by some political leaders suggesting that next year’s election would be a battle ground. Touching on government projects, Mr Mahama said the government had "embarked on various projects and offered social services within the last three years, and mentioned road construction, school projects, the distribution of free uniforms and exercise books to basic schools and the “increase in the number of beneficiaries” of the Ghana School Feeding Programme as examples. He said despite the improvement in the economy and the living standard of Ghanaians as recently revealed by the Human Development Index, the government would continue to invest in health-care, education, infrastructural development and other social services. He specifically asked parents to complement government’s effort to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) target of increasing literacy rate and reducing poverty by maintaining their children in school and giving them the necessary guidance. On development at Yilo Krobo, the Vice-President said a 3.5 kilometre (km) road at Somanya had been constructed at a cost of GHc350, 000 while a 3.8 kilometre feeder road had been rehabilitated. Besides, two steel bridges had been constructed and a GHc53, 000 water project to improve water supply in the area executed by the Community Water and Sanitation Project. Speaking about the festival, Mr Mahama said the colourful cultural displays showed that the festival still served its purpose of bringing the people together to take stock of their previous activities and strategies for the future. Osayem Tuumeh I commended the government for supporting education, healthcare, tourism, water and sanitation projects and improving roads in the area. He gave the assurance that the chiefs and people of the area would continue to collaborate with the government to speed up development projects and programmes there. Osayem Tuumeh I, however, appealed to the government to construct more roads and rehabilitate some of the bad ones and also improve water supply in the area. He called for increased police presence at Somanya to ward off criminals and consequently prevent crime in the area. Osayem Tuumeh I, thanked the government for elevating the Yilo-Krobo District into a Municipality.