A Deputy Chairperson of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), Mrs. Augustina Akosua Akumanyi, has challenged members of the security agencies to keep abreast of the Constitution to enable them to operate within the framework of the law. It would also enable them to appreciate the need to respect the freedoms and rights of the citizenry to enhance the democratic dispensation of the country. Addressing a section of the security agencies in Kumasi as part of the NCCE Week, Mrs. Akumanyi, who is in charge of Finance and Administration at the NCCE, also charged politicians to refrain from inciting the youth to cause violence, especially during their political campaigns. She pointed out that politicians were noted “for preaching peace and unity when they mount political platforms in public, but in secret they incite the youth to cause violence against their political opponents.” She noted that politicians had to ensure that they lived by the tenets of their pledges of creating a serene atmosphere in the country before, during and after elections to enhance accelerated socio-economic development. Mrs. Akumanyi explained that since Ghanaians were still nurturing their democracy, there was the need for the citizenry to place the state above politics and devise means that would make every Citizen play an active role towards sustainable socio-economic development. She said it was equally important for the media to refrain from aligning themselves with sections of politicians and rather play their watchdog roles well. That, she said, would cause politicians to focus on their core responsibility of harnessing the human and natural resources of the country to initiate projects and programmes that would impact positively on the ordinary Ghanaian. She noted that it was important for the media to be more professional by considering the state as their priority in all their reportage and also keeping politicians on their toes. Mrs. Akumanyi advised political parties in the country to register all their members as a way of using the data of their membership to solicit for financial resources to build their parties. As part of the educational programme, the NCCE organised a quiz for the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Service, the Prison Service, the Police Service and the Fire Service. The quiz, which was on the 1992 Constitution, was won by the Customs Division, with the Prisons Service, the Fire Service and the Police Service following in that order. The Ashanti Regional Director of the NCCE, Mr. Alhassan Yakubu, commended the participants for their desire to keep abreast of the Constitution and urged them to sustain it. Source: Daily Graphic